The Schnee Black Sheep
by Demon-Hybrid
Summary: AU. Coal Schnee, Weiss' twin brother has been rejected by his family. The only member of the family who actually acknowledges his existence is his twin sister who has followed him to beacon after being disowned by his father. Changed to M for dark themes and adult language
1. Chapter 1

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

This is going to be my first fic so cut me some slack please and no flames. This is an AU fic so if there's something about the characters you don't like or you think is wrong then deal with it this is an AU. This idea came to me a while ago back in RWBY season 3 and kinda stuck so here it is. I'm going to try and follow the basic story of RWBY but may go off a bit here and there for the fun of it. And most of will stay the same it will many revolve around the Schnee's that will be different. Thank you for taking the time to read my fic and I hope you like it.

I don't own RWBY, If I did Yang would make a lot more innuendos.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Beacon Academy

(Airship bound for Beacon Academy)

The sound of her Heeled boots seemed to echo through the halls of the ship, but wasn't what was drawing the attention of the crowd. It was the argument that was taken place between the girl who could only be described as an angle without wings due to her colour scheme of pale blue and white, and the unfortunate on the other side of the scroll who could only be deaf by the end of the call. The call had started out normal enough, but less than a minute into it things had become a bit more heated.

"No Winter, Father has gone too far this time…. No! Unless he can come back with me I will not be returning home… I DON'T CARE!" Throwing her scroll for it to only be caught by her twin brother, Wiess continued to mutter under her breath as she paced the deck of the airship. Her snow-white hair flowing in its tied up in an off entered pony tail. This girl is Weiss Schnee, the heiress to her father's company and huntress in training. Her pale blue dress which stopped just above knee height, hugged her slim figure and held a sense of elegance and grace despite the obvious irritation in her icy blue eyes. Over the dress, she wore a white bolero jacket which faded to a light blue colour at the sleeves to match her dress while the lining of the jacket was a crimson red. The back of the jacket held an emblem with resembled a snowflake. This was the Schnee family emblem, something she used to wear with pride, now she wasn't so sure.

She had been through this argument countless times over the last few days since she had declared that she was attending beacon with her brother. After some time, she stopped and brought a hand to the necklace she had been a gift from her twin. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down before walking back across to her brother.

Leaning against the wall in a dull wine red trench coat with a black flame pattern around its sleeves stood a tall ebony black haired boy with matching black eyes. Underneath the coat, he wore a simple dark grey tee-shirt with the same pattern around the base of the shirt and black combat pants and a black leather belt which held an empty leather gun holster. Despite being her brother, there was no sign of the family emblem on his attire.

Chuckling to himself as he handed the scroll back to her he asked the one thing which he knew would get her to smile. "Finally calmed down ~Snow Angel~?" Rolling the nickname.

Playfully punching his arm, she took the scroll from him and gave him a sweet smile which only showed sincerity. 'Snow Angel' had been the name he used for her since they were kids, he only ever called her that when he was either deeply concerned about her or when he was in a really good mood. She had been hearing that name more and more recently and hoped it was because of the latter.

"You know how Winter can be, Coal. She just doesn't understand." Weiss said still smiling up to her brother.

"Even still you should apologise to her. It's not like it's her fault that the old man is now bitching to her about all this. Give her some slack baby sis." The now name Coal said, receiving a punch to the gut at the new nickname.

"Hey! Your only older by 12 minutes! And mind the language!" Crossing her arms and turning away, still with a smile on her face. "You're not wrong though. I'll be back in a minute."

As he watched her walk away to make amends with the oldest sibling, Coal's smile turned into a frown. ' _So, the old bastard got Winter involved. Damn it, this is the last thing she needs to worry about'_ he thought to himself. He and his elder sister may not have always seen eye to eye and he may have ticked her off a few times, but he learned from a very young age not to get on his elder sister's bad side. The last time he did…

"She's going to kill me." He whimpered as he cried animatedly. He stopped when something caught his attention out the corner of his eye. A tall blond boy with white armour and black hoodie seemed to swaying from side to side as he was walking, his face seeming to turn a shade of green. "Dude you don't look so good, you gonna be ok?" he asked the blond.

As the blond lifted his head to try and find who had spoken to him, his stomach answered before he could as instead of words leaving his mouth, a little bit of puke did. Shaking his head at the obviously sick boy, Coal walked over to the blond, grabbed one of his arms and began to help him walk to the nearest trash can.

"You could have said no." Coal told the blond, trying not to laugh at the state the poor boy was in.

"S-Sorry…" the blond responded while trying to keep the rest of his lunch where it belonged.

"So, what's your name mate?" the black-haired teen asked. This cause the blond to shift his eyes up to meet the eyes of his helper. ' _Mate? I've almost just thrown up all over this gay and he just called me a friend?"_ As dark blue met black he wasn't able to answer as the black haired, black eyed teen spoke again. "Ah sorry mate, where are my manners. I'm Coal Sch… err just Coal."

Not questioning the lack of surname the blond spoke up, "J-Jaune Arc." The now name Jaune manage to say. As they made their way through the ship they walked past a pair of girls. Coal didn't pay too much attention to them being more concerned about Jaune. He heard on of them start yelling gross over and over again, while the other was screaming to get way. Shrugging it off he continued to lead Jaune away from the weird girls.

"Well Jaune, welcome to Beacon mate!" Coal announced as the ship suddenly came to a halt signalling that it had finally docked, much to Jaune's relief.

* * *

Elsewhere Weiss had just ended her second conversation with her sister. While she had apologised for how he had spoken to her elder sister, she had not brought up her feeling regarding her brother's situation, knowing that it could set her off on another one-sided argument. They had left home for Beacon 10 days ago, but to her it had seemed like it had flown by. Everything had been fine the day before they left, but things changed quickly. It had started out as a simple argument between father and son which escalated into a duel. It had ended with her almost losing her brother, having said brother disowned by her father and being banished from the home where he grew up in, before he had been given the chance to tend to his wounds cause by the duel.

Needless to say, she was pissed. Wiess had never said anything out of turn, never disobeyed her father or went behind his back. But after everything that happened that day, she lost it… Not only had she slapped her father but she had also yelled and insulted him because of how much her brother had done for not just her father's company, but also because she wouldn't be here if not for him…

Shaking her head before she was force to relive the horrible memory, she walked back to where she left her brother. Only to find him gone.

' _Damn it, not again.'_ She mentally sighed. She knew that he had a habit of wandering off and getting lost, but could she didn't think that she would have to keep an eye on him constantly. Then again, he was always getting lost, even around the house that they had spent their entire lives in. Yes, it was a huge mansion, but he would still be able to get lost in it if they were still there now. Not to mention the fact then if left unsupervised for more than 30 seconds he would have disappeared on some sort of adventure. Only to claim, when he was eventually found, that he was bored and wanted to have a look around the area.

But no matter where he wandered off to, if she needed him, he would always find her. She was always a small girl and skinnier than she should have been. From an early age, she was deemed too fragile to leave the house in fear of her getting hurt. Coal had always taken care of her when she began to feel weak. She had even collapsed a few times, but he was always there to nurse her back to health. even though he annoyed the doctors by constantly being in their way the never forced him to leave his sister while they worked. He would stay by her bedside until she was strong enough to stand and they would leave together.

Because of how weak she was she was not permitted to train as a huntress when her brother started. However, she would sit and watch his training and sparing practice and offer her support. Although it didn't take long for her to envy him. She wanted to fight, to be strong like her brother so that he wouldn't have to worry about her. Eventually she got what she wanted after Coal had argued with Father every day for 3 month over it. That was almost 4 years ago.

Feeling her scroll vibrate brought her back into the present. Taking it out, she noticed a message from her brother which said:

" _Sup baby sis, I'll meet you inside the main hall for head's speech thingy. P.S could you grab my bag I kinda forgot it :P Cheers sis luv ya!"_

As she closed and pocketed the scroll, Weiss made her was to collect their luggage form the ships hold. Mentally making an appointment to lecture her brother on how to treat a lady, god help any girl he dates, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen during her time here. Feeling her scroll vibrate again, she received another message from her twin:

" _Welcome to Beacon. I'm proud of you Weiss. You finally made it."_

Yes, she was finally going to become a huntress.


	2. Chapter 2

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

I had already wrote this chapter when I uploaded the first one, by no means does this mean that ill be updating this story quickly, just when I get time to actually sit down and write. I want to try and aim for an upload a week but we will see how that goes. Thank you for taking your time to read this and I hope you all enjoy it.

Please no flames. its my first fic so go easy on me.

I don't own RWBY, If I did Ruby's crescent rose would also set its blade on fire

* * *

Chapter 2: First day

"That's it buddy let it all out" Coal said as he rubbed Jaune's back. The blond had been leaning over a trash can for the past few minutes, throwing up what little was left in his stomach. After some time Jaune's face returned to its normal colour and the 2 set off through the court yard after the rest of the students. "Well we may have been first off the ship but we're still the last to arrive haha." Coal laughed.

"Sorry about that, but I guess I should thank you. Not many people would have stopped to help like you did." Jaune said rubbing the back of his head. At first, he was worried about making a fool of himself when he arrived at Beacon, but so far things seemed to be going better than he expected. He was already up one friend before he had even said a word, to Jaune that was a huge achievement.

Coal was able to sense that Jaune was slightly embarrassed about his motion sickness, so slapped Jaune on the back causing said blond to stumble forward slightly. "No worries Mate! Nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has some little quirk." Coal assure the blond with a grin. "So, what made you decided to come to beacon J?"

"Errr Jay?"

"Yeah, J… As in the first letter of your name. Do I need to teach you how to spell your name mate?"

"No, no its just… Never really had a nickname before."

"Well get used to it mate cause I'm…"

*BOOM*

Coal never got to finish as he was interrupted by a large explosion of what he figured to be red dust after seeing the cloud that appeared further down the courtyard. Jaune had no idea what caused the explosion but it had scared him enough to jump into his friends arms. After realising that he was in a very embarrassing position, being held bridal style by another man, Jaune quickly jumped out of Coal's arms only to find that the red coated teen seemed to be deep in thought.

"Erm Coal, you ok?" he asked. The answer he got only confused him further.

"Hmm, an explosion that I haven't caused…" Coal mused. "This cannot be! Jaune…" he announced turning to his new companion. "We must investigate this monstrosity. No one should be exploding or making things explode but me!" With his piece said, Coal ran towards the aftermath of the explosion. Jaune close behind him.

Reaching the site of the dust explosion the males looked down to see a girl with black hair and red highlights lying on her back staring at the sky. Coal quickly noticed that they had similar colour schemes and quickly took notice of the red hooded cloak that the girl was wearing. _'she reminds me of Wiess back when we were kids, minus the short hair and colour.'_ Jaune was the first to offer a hand to the girl.

"Hey," he said as the girl took his hand "I'm Jaune." This brought Coal back into reality as he realised he was staring at the girl. He thought might be making her uncomfortable, so reaching out his own hand, he smiled to the red cloaked girl.

"Coal." He informed the smaller girl "Sorry for staring, you just reminded me of someone I know."

"Ruby, and its ok. Though I hope I get to meet that person." Ruby said which caused Coal to smile. _'Ruby huh, well least she lives up to the name.'_ he thought as the introductions came to an end.

"I'm sure you will, the two of you would get along just fine." He could see that the now named Ruby didn't really believe him when he said that. summing it up to her looking a few years younger than the rest of the students that he had seen on the ship, he thought it may be a confidence thing so he let it slide. There would be plenty of people around the school that she would eventually get along with. If not, then he'd make his sister hang out with her. Ruby and Jaune exchanged a quick worried glance as they both saw Coal's smile morph into a more mischievous smirk, because of why they had no idea.

Ruby's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the blond knight for a second time, wheels in her head turning until something seemed to click. "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

* * *

Weiss had just walked into the main hall after taking a moment to calm herself down. She hadn't meant to snap at a young red cloaked girl earlier. But after being left alone in a strange place, made to carry her brother's luggage and being blown up had left her slightly ticked off. After calming down, she realised that it was her own fault that things became explosive, (somewhere around Beacon a certain blond girl sneezes).

 _10 minutes earlier_

 _Wiess was walking through Beacons courtyard heading for the main hall where the headmaster was to give his welcome speech. "Stupid Coal and his Stupid bag and his stupid, stupid need to wonder off and…" She muttered under her breath. Wiess was not one to use foul language but if there was someone who deserved it at the moment it would be her twin._

 _Her insults towards her brother got cut off when someone fell into her luggage cart causing 2 of the bags to open, a few vials of dust fell out of one and rolled around on the ground, one stopping just inform of a girl with long black hair and bright amber eyes. The contents of the second case also spread across the cobblestone, which Wiess immediately recognised as parts of a gun._ 'oh no… Coal's going to kill me…' _she thought to herself as she quickly collected all the parts she could find, placing them back into the case as neatly as she could. After closing the case she turned to the one who she deemed responsible for sending her to an early grave._

" _What are you doing you dolt! Do you have any idea how much damaged you could have caused!" she screamed, only after she finished screaming did she realised that the person she was screaming at looked a few years younger than her._ 'Why is there a child here?' _Pushing the thought to one side Wiess collected the few dust vials that had fell out of her own case._

 _Realising she had done something wrong, Ruby began to panic, "S-Sorry I didn't me to do that. Here let me help." She said as she picked up one of the vails. The one she had picked up contained some sort of red power that seemed to catch her interest. Wanting to examine the powder, further she tried to remove the cap only for the bottle to be snatched from her hands._

" _Give me that, this is dust you moron! It's dangerous and shouldn't be in the hands of a child!" Wiess screamed. She was not going to be responsible if a whole bottle of fire dust were to go off at the school's front door._

" _Hey I said I was sorry princess!" Ruby snapped back only for her to be interrupted by a third party. The new girl walk right up to Weiss and force a dust vial into her hand without saying a word to either girl. However, Wiess could see the look of disgust in the girl's amber eyes before she walked off and out of sight._

 _Both girls blinked a few times as if trying to register what just happened before Wiess continued to lecture the young Ruby. "I don't care." she began to shake the vail she had just been given, little did she know that the cap had loosened off when it had fallen. "Why is there a child at a school for killing monsters, this isn't just combat practice and sparing you know. And another thing what…"_

" _Achoo!"_

 _*BOOM*_

(Present)

Wiess' memory was fuzzy after that; however, she did remember using a lot of words she didn't think she would ever say. She wasn't proud of it either. In fact, she out right regretted it, but had no idea how to make things right with the red themed girl. She never even asked her name.

Making another mental appointment to apologise to whoever that exploding girl was she began to search the hall for the only other person that she knew in this new school. So long as he was still on the school grounds and had yet to wonder off to far. Finally spotting him she made her way through the crowd to where he stood alongside the same exploding girl and a very busty blond.

When she was within arm's reach of her brother she took a deep breath before slapping him across the back of the head shouting "YOU!" Weiss didn't pay any attention to the red cloaked girl who had just jumped into the blonds are crying about something happening again. "Where have you been! Do you have any idea how worried I've been! What if something had happened! You're not back to full strength yet remember!"

Rubbing at the pain his sister had caused the back of his head, Coal turned to face his sister with an apologetic smile across his face "Aww come on baby sis I'm fine, not like anything happened while I was gone." He joked only to receive a very dangerous glare from his twin.

"You're not fine, you're still recovering and I don't care what you say, you're still going to the nurse after this speech!" Weiss then grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to her level "Am. I. Clear." She more stated then asked. Beads of sweat started to appear as Coal's inner child told him to ignore his sister and go explore the school. But after seeing the look in her eyes and realising that doing so would probably mean some sort of horrible punishment that involved his sister's affinity for ice, he decided to remain silent and nod to confirm his obedience.

On the stage a man dressed in a formal suit jacket with a green shirt with silver hair and a cane walked up to the mic, tapped it a few times to gather the attention of everyone present. "I'll keep this brief"

* * *

A/N

I hate to cut chapters short but If I continued on there I wouldn't stop. Next chapter will include the first night a beacon and go into a bit more detail about Coal's injuries due to dueling his father. And a bit more bro and sis connections. I plan on having Blake a bit more distant in this as she has a bit more of a different back story in this fic which will come to light in later chapters.

I do have a few ideas for where Coal should fit in regards to teams but if anyone has and ideas they would like to see let me know and I'll see what would fit best into the fic

See you all next time!


	3. Chapter 3

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

This is going to be a shorter chapter as it gives a little bit more insight into the Schnee twins past, but not too much as I plan to have a heart-breaking reveal later on.

This chapter doesn't follow the main plot of RWBY, its intended for the twins as this story will revolve around them.

Please no flames I'm really trying hard here guys.

* * *

Chapter 3: closed wounds

True to his word, Coal followed his sister Weiss to the school's infirmary without an argument. He knew she was right, he still had yet to fully heal after being stabbed trough his right shoulder by his so called farther. Having been sat down on one of the many bed in the infirmary waiting for the nurse to arrive, Coal and his sister had not said a word to each other since before the headmaster's speech. He knew that Weiss didn't like making small talk, but he knew that his sister was struggling with everything that had happened to both of them recently.

Wiess' mind was filled with concerns about her brother's condition. She knew that the duel had left her brother with not only a hole in his shoulder, but because of the ice dust that her father used during the strike had caused Coal to lose all feeling in his right arm from the shoulder down. This had also left him unable to use his preferred hand, meaning that he couldn't use his sword to defend himself if things got heated up on the battle field.

Ever since she was a little girl she loved to watch him practice with a estoc, he had a certain grace with the weapon that almost made it look like he was dancing with the blade. Now, she hated the way that he looked at the arm. She watched him as he sat stretching his fingers, trying to get some sort of feeling back into them. The normal sense of adventure in his eyes seemed to have completely faded away and instead, they only held pain. He had lost the ability to handle his greatest weapon. The fact he still had the arm and could still move it at all seemed almost like a punishment in itself. Wiess knew that this was what her father had been aiming to do. Her father was always the type of person that would never exploit a person's weakness, but rather take away their greatest strength. In some cases, that left the victim's mentality completely shattered. She feared for her brother's sanity.

Having been waiting for 15 minutes, the nurse finally arrived to start her shift, surprised to find two students already in her infirmary. "Been here for a few hours and already coming to see me? I don't know if I should be impressed or concerned at you two." She chuckled as she stopped in front of the twins.

Wiess didn't look at the nurse, she rather found her feet more interesting and kept her eyes focused downwards. Coal, having being startled out of his trance, looked up at the nurse with his usual lopsided grin like nothing was wrong. "I'm just here for a check-up and a bandage change. Nothing major." The nurse turned her attention the black-haired teen and set to work.

"Ok, where's the problem then?" she asked. Coal said nothing as he stood up and began to take off his jacket and shirt. The nurse had seen the male body before and had seen some pretty horrible injuries, but this boy's body went straight to the top of her fucked up list. The bandages around his chest and right arm didn't hide away his entire front torso. As he peeled back the bandages so that the nurse could get access to his current wound, Coal noticed the nurse's eyes widen and a look of pure horror filled the chocolate brown eyes. He knew what she was staring at.

Nurse Amber had seen a lot of damaged teens due to working at Beacons infirmary, but this boy was the most damaged she had ever seen. Claw marks, lots of them. They seemed to cover every inch of the boy's body, most of them overlapping each other, but she could tell just by looking at the scars that they weren't shallow. Whatever had caused the boy so much damage knew how to inflict an immense amount of pain and had probably done more than just break skin. She could see some signs of muscle damage across his chest where the scars seemed deeper. She couldn't even register the small hole in the boy's right shoulder that he needed checked due to the vast number of scars. All she knew for sure that these scars weren't received from someone trying to kill, but from someone who was trying to inflict pain. Someone who possibly enjoyed the latter a bit too much.

Seeing that the nurse frozen up on the spot, Coal snapped his fingers in front of her face."Yo, you ok?" This seemed to snap her back into reality as she began working on the hole in the boy's right shoulder, checking for any signs of infection and dressing the wound.

"What the hell happened to you?" Immediately slapping a hand over her mouth, she apologised before returning to her work. She hadn't intended to ask, but seeing the state of the boy had left her in a bit of a shock.

Coal avoided her gaze and hid his eyes using the length of messy black hair. "Grim attack… It happened a long time ago." It was an obvious lie and Coal knew she wouldn't believe it, but he didn't care. Those scars may have been visible to those who would see him shirtless. Yet there are still scars that no one could see, despite how hard they looked. These scars held a great deal more pain and usually harder to heal. His sister had those types of scars. And it terrified him.

The rest of the check-up went on in silence. Until the nurse when to check the exit wound on the boys back, when she saw that it mirrored the boys front in the number of scars that it held she took a deep breath which seemed to echo around the empty room before she continued. ' _No way these were done by grim. Grim always go for the kill. Never torcher them pray.'_ Nurse Amber mentally concluded. She wouldn't pry into the things this boy had seen due to the fact that he obviously didn't want her to know because of the horrendous lie he told her. She would still report the boys condition to headmaster Ozpin, just to be on the safe side.

After getting new bandages and having redressed himself, Coal thanked the nurse before making his way to the door, Wiess following close behind. "Hey!" The nurse called after them. "You need to rest. The beds here are yours for the night, rather than the floor." Coal nodded, silently thanking the nurse again before making his way back to the bed that he had been sat at earlier, lying down upon it. Wiess took the bed next time him on the right, thanking the nurse for letting them use the beds. Nurse Amber shook her head before leaving herself. "It's no issue at all. If you need checked out again ask for me, Amber. I've seen a lot more horror than most of the other nurses here, some may have a harder time dealing with the… well you know what I mean." Coal turned his head to Amber and nodded again, still not saying anything further. Amber took this as her moment to leave the teens.

* * *

(Late that night)

Wiess tossed and turned in her trying to sleep. But no matter what she tried she just couldn't get comfortable enough to drop into dreamland. She let out a long sigh before rolling over to the edge of her bed to go get a glass of water. She stopped when she noticed her twin sitting upright, closing and opening his right hand continuously as if in some sort of trance. Trying to meet his gaze she saw the same distant eyes that he had when they first got to the infirmary. Even when she moved to sit down next to him he didn't seem to notice her presence, his focus stayed on the hand that he was trying so hard to push his aura though yet to no avail.

Reaching out Wiess took her brothers hand in her own and just sat beside him, giving him the one thing she knew would help. She began to hum a tune (RWBY White trailer – Mirror Mirror). The tune to a lullaby that he would sing to her when she was stuck in bed after collapsing. Wiess couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu as they had been in a similar position many times thought their lives. Only this time, she was the one singing the lullaby. This was the first time she had needed to do this for her older twin, he had always been the one to look after her. Yet now, she knew she needed to step up, not just for her brother, but to prove to herself that she was no longer the weak child from 5 years ago. When both twins received their scars.

It didn't take long for the lullaby sent both twins to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

I know I seem to be dragging this out but I don't want to rush through this fic. So please bare with me for that. We will be getting to the action next chapter when the initiation trials start. For now, you'll get a bit more back ground and meet some more of Characters from RWBY. This is my longest chapter so far and will give show a lot more of Coals personality and humour. i hope you all enjoy this chapter, i worked really hard on it.

Please no flames, im still new to this stuff

I do not own RWBY nuff said.

* * *

Chapter 4: New Friends and Old Rivals

(Headmaster Ozpin's Office)

" _Your gear is in locker 69. Try not to get lost on your way here Frosty :P"_ Coal chucked to himself, for childish reasons, reading the message he just received on his scroll. He sent his sister a quick thank you message before looking at the person who had summoned him. The headmaster has woken the twins up earlier that morning to request the eldest Schnee twin's presence in his office. Coal had decided to follow the headmaster, rather than follow the directions that his sister had tried to give him. He would never make it having gotten lost somewhere around the school... Again.

Watching the teen, Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon, couldn't help but smile slightly as he drank his third coffee of the morning. He had reviewed the boys file when he had first applied, it contained a brief amount of detail on the teen and his abilities, but not enough to satisfy the old hunters interest. He had heard that this boy had been trained by an old friend of his. This peaked the headmasters curiosity. "General Ironwood speaks very highly of you, Mister Schnee."

Coal's expression instantly changed upon hearing his former mentors name, and changed again after being called by his former family name. "It's just Coal now Oz. I would have thought you had been informed given your reputation." Coal said after giving the silver haired man a glare. The obsidian eyes dared the older hunter to call him that again.

Ozpin let out a small chuckle at how the young hunter in trained had just challenged him without any fear. He could tell instantly that this boy was going to be entertaining. If what the General had said about the teens outward defiance to authority held any truth, Glynda would think somewhat differently.

"Why am I here Grey?" Coal asked having not received a response from obvious coffee addict.

"No reason to be honest with you." Ozpin stated after taking an intentionally long drink of coffee. "Just wanted to confirm something for myself. James was right, the red doesn't suit you."

Groaning and looking away from his superior, Coal muttered some sort of insult under his breath before turning on his heel and head towards the door. Only to be stopped by Ozpin calling out to him as he gripped the handle.

"Try not to disappoint me today Mister Coal." Ozpin said as he interlocked his fingers. "I'll be needing something to entertain me today."

Looking back over his shoulder, Coal gave the headmaster his usual mischievous grin "Iron ass says that that's why you keep that blond with the riding crop around. What was her name again… Naughtywitch or something? I'll admit Grey, you have good taste." Coal said with a wink. With his point made he turned once more to leave the headmaster, who was trying his best to choke on his coffee, hiding a laugh. The abusive coffee drinker had given the general the same nickname many, many years ago.

* * *

(With Wiess)

Having just sent her brother a message, informing him of where she stored his weapons and armour, she couldn't help but imagine him giggling like a small child at the locker number. Surely, he wasn't that immature… Pushing her brothers mental state to one side, Wiess sheathed her rapier, Myrtenaster, before sitting down on a nearby bench. With a heavy sigh she began to look around hoping that her brother would show up soon. Only to spot an old friend of hers.

Smiling as she stood up and tiptoed up behind a girl with crimson hair, thinking that she could have been ninja in another life, she pounced her only female friend engulfing her into a surprise hug. Something that the red head had not seen coming due to the sudden yelp that came from her. "PYRRHA!" Wiess shouted.

After taking a few deep breathes to calm her now racing heart, Pyrrha Nikos turned to see her friend, having not expecting to see the Schnee so far from home. "Weiss? Jezz don't scare me like that!" After both girls shared a quick hug, a typical greeting between the two, Pyrrha spoke again. "How are you here, I thought you were attending Atlas?"

Releasing the redhead, Wiess tried her best to keep her upbeat attitude and not let recent events upset her again. Her efforts were in vain as Pyrrha had seen the change in her eyes. The redhead couldn't tell exactly what was wrong but decided to let it go for now, she knew Wiess would tell her eventually. If not she would ask Coal later… speaking of which. "Is Coal here with you?" Pyrrha asked, not noticing that her own checks held a light shade of pink when she asked.

Weiss, having noticed the other girls checks change colour, decided to engage in one of her favourite pass times with the girl… Teasing. "Why do you ask Pyrrha? Wanting to go another round with him?" This caused the Spartans cheeks to match her hair, unable to make a full sentence to explain that there was nothing between her and the elder twin. Wiess just laughed at her friend's antics before playfully reaching up to flick her friend's forehead to reset the poor girls brain. "I'm kidding, relax. And he is around… Somewhere. Although, you both do need to settle the score, you are tied after all."

* * *

(Flashback – 2 Years ago)

"And the winner of this year's Mistral Regional Tournament is… COAL SCHNEE!" The tournaments announce proclaimed after the final match had ended. "Unable to hold her title for a third year, Miss Nikos put up a great fight, but was in the end… Completely outclassed!"

The 15-year-old Pyrrha Nikos lay on her back staring at the arena's ceiling. She had lost. The invincible girl, as she had been named by her fans, lost. She rolled over and forced herself up to one knee, her body hurt all over due to the tense battle. Breathing heavily, trying to regain some form of strength, a hand appeared in front of her face. Shiftin her gaze up her emrald eyes met the obsidian orbs of her opponent, and he was grinning… As he ran his free hand through his messy white hair, still holding the other one out to help her up he said. "That was an amazing fight! You almost had me a few times there." This angered her. Was he taking pitty on her? She slapped the hand away and forced herself to stand. Before she could even vow to beat him into the ground next time they meet, the new champion was tackled to the ground by what seemed to be a mass of snow. On second look, Pyrrha saw that he had actually been speared by a girl with the same hair colour.

"You were amazing Coal!" the snow girl shouted still hugging the champion. After releasing the now blue faced boy, Wiess stood back and turned to the ex-champion. "You were amazing too Pyrrha, I've watched all you matches, ever since your first appearance in these tornaments. You are just the best. Had you gone against anyone else you would have won I'm sure of it!"

This surprised Pyrrha, she had been praised many times by her fans but for some reason this seemed different… that last part didn't seem like an insult to the Spartans strength, it sounded more like a testament to the obsidian eyed boy's strength. Was she truly that weak in comparison? "Erm… Thank you umm…"

"Oh im Wiess, Wiess Schnee." Pointing down to the winded boy she continued. "And you have already had the pleasure of meeting my brother Coal. Frosty here said he wouldn't hold back and true to his word, he went all out from the start. I'm sorry if he went a bit overboard." Wiess said as she bowed her head to the Spartan to emphisise that she was truly sorry for he brother lack of restraint.

Pyrrha was shocked. All this time she had though that her opponent had just been toying with her during the battle. But after being told that he had taken her at full strength, she no longer felt any rage towards him… Rather she felt honoured that such a strong fighter had gone all out. Before she could say anything to the still bowing girl, something caught her attention. The sound of light snoring.

Looking back down, she registed that the noise was coming from this boy, Coal. He was sleeping, in the middle of a battle torn arena. Looking closer she could actually see signs of exhaustion and a small smile crept onto her face. ' _He's kind of cute like this._ ' She thought to herself still staring.

Wiess also heard the snoring coming from her twin and with a roll of her eyes, she spun on her heels and using that momentum, kicked Coal in the backside. Jolting awake from the literal pain in the ass of a sister, Coal stood back up grumbling something under his breath that neither girl could make out, he turned to face the redhead and asked her. "So, same time next year?" Extending a hand again to the Spartan, this time for a handshake.

Her smile growing, Pyrrha took the hand in a firm grip. " Yes, we will face eachother again next year. You are only aloud to lose to me so be ready."

Coal chuckled. "Bring it on redhead." Not having anything else to say, Coal took this opportunity to leave the areana,

Wiess watched her brother leave bfore turning back to the defeated champion. A sly grin on her face. "So pyrrha, did you like watching my brother sleep?"

* * *

(Present Time)

The two girls had become very quick friend that day and had kept in contact since. They called each other at least once a week, just to talk during the lead up to the next tournament where, due to some coaching from Wiess, Pyrrha had reclaimed her title as the Mistral Regional Champion. Coal didn't seem to upset by the loss, he actually seems happy that he lost. Pyrrha figured that he had been waiting for a challenge, and she had delivered in full. After the fight, she had given her contact details to her self-proclaimed rival in hopes that they would keep in touch. The two did call eachother on occasion, but not to the extent that she spoke with Wiess. For reasons unknown to her, when she thought about him she got nervous. This feeling seemed to go away when the faced off in a battle, something she put down to adrenalin pumping through her system.

Pyrrha was broken from her confused state after hearing Wiess mention something about the two of them forming a team. The Spartan nodded back to the Schnee girl stating. "I think that would be wonderful." Pyrrha instantly saw the happiness in her friends eyes having agreed to the idea. In truth, she was glad Wiess was here, many of the other students here had been avoiding her due to her reputation as the invincible girl. She had only lost one official battle in the last four years after all. After her second win, she started to believe that she truly was invincible and that no one could match her in the arena. After suffering the loss two years ago, the invincible girl had been knocked down off her high horse… In hindsight, she was glad that he won their first match.

Before the girls could make any plans on how they were going to form a team. A blond knight appeared next to them. "You know what else is wonderful? Me… Jaune Arc." He proclaimed with confidence, as if the girls should know who he is by his name alone.

Wiess raised an eyebrow to the new arrival. Unsure on what to think of him. Sure, he seemed confident, but after giving his body a quick once over, she quickly assumed that the supposed knight was all bark and no bite. Deciding to have a little fun with the boy, Wiess did something she rarely ever got the chance to do to anyone while her brother was around… Give them an offensive nickname. "Well umm… Jaune Arse, was it? That's nice and all but we were having a conversation if you don't mind."

Wiess had to force back a laugh as the blonde's jaw hit the floor at obvious miss pronunciation of his name. However, Jaune was persistent. He had already made friends with Ruby and Coal the day before and was determined to add to the list with the beautiful ladies standing in front of him. Forgetting about the name for the time being, Jaune's smile returned as he turned to speak to the white-haired girl.

"I couldn't help but overhear your discussion. Actually, that's why I'm here… To offer you both a place on Team Jaune!" He announced with pride, raising a close fist in the air above him. "Spots are filling up quickly but I'm willing to cut some corners for you two. So, wanna join?"

Tapping her chin and looking away, Wiess did her best to act as though she was deep in thought and actually considering the idea. However, she was actually thinking about…

' _I wonder if I should have packed more clothes, we are going to be here for a few years. Is seven cases really going to be enough?'_

Having reached an answer for both her mental question and the knight's, she locked eyes with the hopeful blond and said a single word. A word which brought Jaune's hopes and dreams of being constantly around the two beauties crashing down.

"Nope"

"Aww come on Snow Angel… you know you, -AHHHH" Jaune screamed out having being force back several feet into a wall.

Upon hearing the name that was reserved only for her twin, Wiess drew her sword and held the tip straight to the boy's neck forcing him to take several steps back. Being the light and nimble girl she was, Wiess immediately closed the gap that the knight had made and pinned him against a wall. The tip of her rapier finally stopping mere millimetres from the boy's throat.

Jaune didn't know what he had done to deserve such treatment. All he knew for sure that he didn't dare gulp, just in case the movement in his next caused the tip of the sword to break skin. The look in her eyes said it all… she was pissed.

"Don't. Ever. Call. Me. That." Wiess growled between clenched teeth. "Understood?"

"Y… Y- Yes."

"Yes~?"

"Yes Ma'am"

"Good" as Wiess retracted her weapon, allowing the boy to actually breath without fear of pain. She turned to leave with a satisfied smile plastered on her pale face. Pyrrha followed close behind, unsurprised at how the Schnee had reacted to the nickname. Almost as if she had seen it before… Many times before.

* * *

(With Coal - Somewhere in the halls of Beacon)

"Ahhh! Where the hell are these damn lockers!" After leaving the headmasters office, Coal had decided to head straight for equipment storage to find the rest of his gear. What should have been a quick 5-minute walk, had ended up with a 20-minute jog around the unfamiliar halls of the school. And a wrong turn into the female bathroom.

As he continued to jog down the corridor, his face still stinging from the numerous slaps he sort of yet sort of didn't deserve, Coal spotted a brown-haired girl with bunny ears wearing the standard Beacon uniform. He immediately decided to ask for directions, rather than risk making another wrong turn.

"Yo!" he called out to get the faunus' attentions "I'm a bit lost where's the Equipment Storage Lockers?" Asking as he skidded to a halt in front of the rabbit faunus.

Having being caught off guard by the boy, she quickly regained her compositor before pointing down the corridor, back the way he had come from. "It's just back there, second door on your right." She informed in a soft voice. She was startled again when the black-haired teen engulfed her in a bone crushing hug, thanking her repeatedly for saving his life.

Coal had released the obviously uncomfortable girl and began making the way back down the corridor to where she had pointed. Calling out once more before disappearing through the doorway.

"Cheers lassie! I owe you one!"

* * *

(Cliff at the edge of Emerald forest)

"Phew. Just made it" coal said while panting. It didn't take long to equipped his revolver to his left hip and a custom built ebony black gauntlet on his right forearm. But the full-on sprint he made to the cliff side had left him with a bit winded.

"About time you showed up" Wiess scolded him with a playful slap to the back of her brother's head. "You missed the briefing you Ice brain."

"Well then Snow Angel, give me the abridged version."

Rolling her eyes, her child like smile appeared back on her face, she loved it when he called her that name. "Fine, listen up!" Coal stood up straight and turned to face his sister as if he was some sort of privet in the military. Truth be told, he was actually a few categories higher.

"We are to be launched into the forest to retrieve a relic of some sorts from some ruins deep in the trees. Once we have said relic we are to make our way to the cliff side on the opposite side of the forest. We are going to be given teams today and your partner for the entire time that we will be at this school will be the first person you make eye contact with. You get all that Ice brain?"

"Sir, Yes Sir!" Saluting his smaller sister.

Coal heard the headmaster ask the group of students if they had any questions before the tests began and seeing one final opportunity, he turned to face the headmaster and asked in the most innocent voice as he could possibly muster…

"The general asked me to ask you if you just smacked that ass, or if you like, grabbed on and…" He never got to finish asking, having been launched from his platform by a crimson faced Glynda Goodwich and her semblance.

Wiess at this point had facepalmed with enough force to create an echo across the forest. Pyrrha could only give the younger twin a confused look before asking. "Why does Coal now have black hair? And when did he start wearing red?"

"It's a long story…"

Ozpin could only laugh into his ever-present coffee mug. Attempting to hide his amusement from his long-time friend and assistant. The witch would probably break every last bone in the general's body if he asked such a question himself. Even though the still airborne boy had been launched halfway across the forest, Ozpin could still hear the boy singing at the top of his lungs.

"I BELIEVE I CAN FLY!"

Wiess could only face palm again before being launched into the trees herself.


	5. Chapter 5

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

First of all… Thank you so much for all the support and love to this fic guys! I mean seriously 24 follows and 16 favourites for 4 chapters! That's bat shit insane! I had never expected such a positive response at all with this being my first fic. You guys are just fucking beautiful. Seriously thank you!

Coal: Shut up and get on with it!

Ok, ok jeez. You wanna do the honours?

Coal: Sure, thing dude. AHEM* This guy does not and will not own RWBY. He only owns me… hey does that mean I'm your bitch?

Yes, now shut up and get back to you place, you're still flying about the forest remember.

Coal: Oh, yeah I member… oh look, a bar of soap.

* * *

Chapter 5: Everybody Buddy Up!

(With Coal, still in the air)

"I BELIEVE I CAN FLY!"

Coal sang at the top of his lungs as he spread his arms wide thinking that they would keep him airborne just that little bit longer. Turns out they didn't.

Not noticing that he was losing height due to having shut his eyes and enjoy the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair, Coal did absolutely nothing to slow down or prepare to make a landing in the endless trees that was the emerald forest.

The inevitable eventually came, having lost so much height he passed below the tree tops and eventually came to a stop… face planting a tree. Coal slowly slid down the bark, ending up face down on in the dirt of the forest floor. Completely out cold.

* * *

(With Wiess)

Wiess had just landed on the ground deep inside the forest which held some of the deadliest creatures known in remnant. She had used several glyphs as stepping stones to ease her decent, it reminded her of some of her early training days when she just started using her semblance. She wasn't as adept as her older twin, but he had been training since the age of 7 while she had only started 4 years ago on her 13th birthday.

She gently patted her hair back down with it being blown about due to the brief flying lesson and began to look around in search of someone, anyone she knew.

' _Ok so whoever I make eye contact with first will be my partner for the next 4 years… Well that's just great.'_ She thought to herself 'what if its someone I don't know or don't even get along with?'

This caused her to slightly panic and began making a list of everyone she had met at the school. She raised a hand to begin counting off the few people that she could work well with.

' _Ok so I can defiantly work with Coal, duh he's my twin brother… Even if he's a pain in the ass sometimes. Pyrrha is a great fighter and we are good friends so she would be a great partner… Erm then there's that Jaune Arse boy I met this morning. He's a bit easy on the eyes I'll give him that but, nah I'd rather keep him way past arm's length… I'm sure that there's someone I'm forgetting about…'_

As she was trying to remember who she was forgetting about, Wiess heard the sound of scrapping along the forest floor behind her. Thinking that it was a grimm she turned on one heel, reaching her left hand to Myrtenaster and prepared to strike. As soon as she finished turning and had drawn the weapon half was from it sheath, she saw a young silver eyed girl with black hair and red highlights wearing a long red hooded cloak. And what seemed to be a large gun like thing attached to her lower back.

"Oh yeah, the exploding girl!" she proclaimed, earning a depressing groan from the red themed girl. Wiess immediately retuned the sword back to its resting place and extended a hand to the younger student to be. "I'm Wiess, I'm sorry for what happened the other day, I shouldn't have blown up on you like that. I guess we are going to be working together for a while."

"Wow your puns are just as bad as Yang's"

"Excuse me?" Wiess retorted, faltering slightly

"Oh, em sorry… I'm, er… I'm Ruby er Rose." The now name Ruby took her new partners hand and shook it weakly. Wiess thought that maybe this girl had slight confidence issues. Something they would have to work on together with them being partners and all. Wiess remembered a time when she was like that, before she learned how to fight.

After the brief meet and greet, the partners decided to start making their way through the forest to complete the objective of the initiation making ideal small talk along the way. Wiess noticed her companion taking quick glances at her rapier several times and decided to ask about the girl's interest.

"Quick question Ruby?"

"Yes Wiess?"

"Why do you keep staring at my weapon?" Wiess never expected what happened next. The red cloaked girl began bouncing along as they walked, her silver eyes gleaming with excitement and a huge open mouthed smile on her face. _'She looks like Coal when he gets a new book.'_

"Can I see it? Can I see it please? Please, please pretty please?" Ruby pleaded. "I love weapons there so cool and I've never seen a sword of that design before, does the chamber hold different types of dust?"

Wiess drew the weapon and held it for the hyperactive girl to see. "Actually, it does. I can rotate between the different types when I fight different types of grimm. Some types of dust are optimised for damage while others are more for enhancing my own abilities.

"That's so cool!" Ruby shouted waving her arms around like a small child and eyeing the chamber of the sword more closely. "The design is great, almost flawless. With a few adjustments, I bet we can make this baby…"

"NO!"

Ruby jumped back from the snowy girl, having been scolded once by her partner when they met the other day for the first time. She didn't want to go through the entire thing again because she did something stupid like trying to help her partner improve the quality her weapon.

Wiess noticed the scared look in the girl's eyes and immediately began to back pedal. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you it's just… My brother made this weapon for me. He designed and built it from scratch himself… It means more to me than you could understand."

Ruby seemed to relax a little bit having heard that the weapon held a great deal of sentimental value to her new partner. "Its ok. That's great that he made it though, it looks like it took him a long time because of the amount of detail."

"Longer than you 'd think."

An uneasy silence filled the air as the two teens continued walking. Wiess had sheathed her sword some time about after they stopped talking and had since wanted to start up another conversation with her new partner. After what seemed like forever, she turned to the red girl and asked. "Any ideas on how we are going to find these relics?"

Ruby looked around trying to form some sort of plan on completing the mission. Having taken a few moments to climb a tree and search for the ruins from higher ground she spotted something a few trees down. A large bird nest…

"Yeah, I think I found something that will help." she called down to Wiess with an evil grin.

* * *

(With Coal)

Coal blinked… and blinked again. Finally coming out of his dazed state. How long he had been out he didn't know, but something was defiantly odd about how he had woken up… She was sitting atop a busty blond girl, pinning her arms down with his legs, his aura-less right hand gripping her neck. His left arm outstretched to a black-haired girl with black bow kneeling to his left side. in his hand was his 2-chambered revolver, Forgotten Sins, it's barrel flush against the girl's forehead. He didn't know how or why he got into this position with the two girls, last he remembered was flying above the forest, watching a tree get closer and closer...

He still had yet to move from his position because the girl with the bow intrigued him. He was positive that he had seen her somewhere before, but couldn't remember when or where. One thing he did know was to trust his gut. And right now, it was telling him that she was dangerous, she was an enemy, she was also drop dead beautiful but that was beside the point. She was still an unknown…

"Hey Coal what the hell man!"

His eyes darted to the figure lying underneath him and his obsidian orbs widened upon realising who she was. "Yang?"

(Flashback – Yesterday inside the Beacon Observatory)

Coal was searching everywhere for his sister. He Jaune and Ruby had just entered the building and the young girl had ran off stating something about going to speak to her sister. Coal had also said goodbye to Jaune saying that they would meet up later after he had found his twin.

Having wandered through the crown for a bit and coming up empty handed, Coal spotted a familiar red cloak and mess of short black and red hair. _'Maybe little red can help me look for_ _her.'_ He pondered.

Deciding that two heads were better than one, he made his way over to girl, pushing his way through the mass of bodies, attempting to get her attention. "Hey young'un!" This seemed to catch the girl's attention as she turns and beamed at him with that a cute childish smile of hers.

"Hey Coal what's up?" she asked

"I'm looking for someone actually, think you can help me out?"

"Sure, no problem what do they look like?"

Before he could begin to describe his twin, he was interrupted by a very well equipped blond girl (if you get what I mean) who was standing next to Ruby. "What you lost your girlfriend or something?" she asked with a sly smile. The response she got was not what she was expecting…

"DAMN~! Those are some big melons!"

"EXCUSE ME!" the blond shouted turning to the boy eyes red with furry. Coal simply walked past both girls and up to a refreshment stand which for some reason had whole melons placed in a neat pyramid. Coal picked two up, one in each arm, before turning back to the girls. Eyes gleaming with amusement and a shit eating grin.

"Seriously have you seen the size of these things, there huge!" He exclaimed, forcing back a laugh at the reactions the girls had. Ruby's face had turned the same colour as her cloak and she quickly reached for her hood to hide her face from embarrassment. The blond however just simply laughed, the humour escaping from her lilac eyes.

' _I though her eyes were red…'_ Was coals only though as he replaced the melons and walked back over to the girls.

The blond was taking deep breaths trying to regain her composure as she lightly punches Coal's left shoulder. "What a way to, ha-ha, make a first impression! Ha-ha. You and I will get along just fine." She said between breaths.

"You have an amazing set of eyes."

His response had clearly startled the blond as she immediately stopped laughing and stood up straight, having being bucked from laughing so hard. She had been complimented plenty times before and was no stranger to how the opposite sex viewed her. But the way he said it make her stomach flip. No… she was not going to lose to this kid and his alluring obsidian eyes… _'Damn it!'_

"Um thanks…" Was all she managed to say.

Coal extended a hand to the blond informing her of his name. "I'm Coal by the way."

"Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister." She replied giving him a firm handshake, one she used to break some guys hand once. It didn't have any visible effect as he still wore his shit eating grin, this prompted Yang to increase the pressure of her grip. Yet still no change. Little did she know that the boy had no feeling in his right hand at all and had not felt a single thing. To him it was an ordinary handshake.

It was at this point when Coal received a slap across the back of his head… _'Well… I found her.'_

(Present time)

"Coal what the hell are you doing get off me! And put the gun down!" Yang shouted.

Coal blinked a few times, trying to understand how they wound up like this. Still keeping an eye on the girl with the bow she climbed off Yang and offered her a hand up, his gun still locked onto the black-haired girl.

"Coal!" Yang yelled. His gaze shifted to the blond but he kept the gun level, finger on the trigger. "Put. It. Down."

After tense moment, that seemed to last way to long, Coal lowered Forgotten Sins and stored it inside the holster on his left hip. Still glaring daggers at the girl he had almost shot, he demanded in a dark tone. "Who are you?" It was Yang who answered.

"She's my partner. Blake Belladonna." Coal didn't know that name, but he had seen her somewhere before. The question was where? And why did she give him such a bad vibe?

He would have to ask those questions later as a low growl reached his ears. A lot of low growls. Edging their way out of the bushes was at least 15 beowolves, their red eyes fixated on the Obsidian eyed boy. They were hungry and he looked perfectly delicious. Something Yang would agree with if they had been able to understand one another.

The blond took a step forward, ready for smash some skulls together, but she was cut off. Coal had stepped in front of her reaching into his wine-red trench coat. He pulled out a tin can and pulled on the tab, releasing some compressed gas, before bringing it up to his lips and taking a few gulps of the liquid. Once finished he breathed a satisfied sigh before throwing the can in Yang's direction.

"Hold my beer." He said as Yang caught the can. "I got this."

The blond brought the can up to her nose and took a long inhale… Yep defiantly beer. She wasn't one to let a good drink go to waste so she took a gulp herself. Blake was still staring dumbfoundedly at the boys back. He goes from almost ending her life, to protecting her and her partner with the drop of a hat, or in this case beer. Questions floated around her head as to who this boy, Coal, was and why did he look at her with both hate and confusion. She had only ever known one Coal and he had white hair. And he was supposed to be attending Atlas as far as Blake knew.

Coal reached back into his coat once more and pulled out a set of cobalt blue headphone and set them on top of his head. Reaching for his scroll, ready to press play he looked straight ahead to the grimm that seemed to radiate a bloodlust that seemed all too familiar to him. One he could expel himself after being pushed too far. He let his left-hand rest just above his gun, ready to draw as if he was in an old western. At this point he was kind of wishing he had a hat to fit the scene. After having waited long enough he pressed play and let the music take him into battle…

"I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world~"

Coal face faulted at hearing the lyrics. _'Damn, Wiess has been messing with my battle mix again._ ' He started fumbling with his scroll to select a more appropriate song for the intense fight that was about to take place. He couldn't go into battle with terrible music, he never broke that rule.

"Let's try that again shall we." He said pressing play for a second time.

[Battle music: Papa Roach – Face Everything and Rise]

He drew Forgotten Sins as the beat kicked in, raising the 2-chambered revolver he took aim. The chamber closest to the barrel, which contained many different types of dust, rotated so that the barrel loaded with red fire dust and pulled the trigger.

The bullet passed though the chamber of fire dust, coating it and enchanting it as it left the gun, travelling to the centre of the pack of grimm exploding on impact. The explosion was enough to take down a few of the closer ones and do enough damage to the grimm surrounding, the shockwave sending the grimm in all directions and knocking the pack to the ground.

Coal merely smirked at the helpless creatures. Yeah, they were low level beowolves, something he fit into the category of trash mobs if this were a game. But he couldn't waste such an opening, even it if was meant being less entertained. Switching the dust chamber again he settled on a purple cartridge known as gravity and fired into the group of grimm again. This time aiming for the ground. When the bullet struck, a black glyph appeared and pulled the grimm down into the earth preventing them from getting back up.

As the grimm struggled helplessly, Coal once again changed the dust chamber to a clear chamber that held no dust at all and walked up to the downed pack. As he stood over the first grim he looked into its blood red eyes which reflected his own face… and his own Demonic grin. He pointed Forgotten Sins at the creature of darkness' head and pulled the trigger twice. Double tapping the monster executioner style.

Coal proceeded to do this for several grim, reloading as he went between the creatures, until there were only 5 left, that was when the glyph enhanced gravity bullet had worn off and the Beowolves rose back up, pouncing at the person who had killed their brethren. Their lust for blood intensified.

Coal began to dodge and weave through the black creatures, their wild slashes and bites missing by mere inches. To Yang and Blake, it looked like he was dancing with the grimm, the blond gigged at this while Blake just watched in silence still torn between trusting her almost murderer and protector. She thought the teen amidst the sea of dark creatures was moving in a very particular way as if he was playing a game of chess and needed every piece in the right place before making his move.

'NOW!'

He changed the dust again to a white wind dust chamber and fired again at 3 grimm who had conveniently lined up a bit too perfectly. The enhanced wind bulleted spun at almost twice the speed of a normal bullet and travelled a lot further, it also had increased penetration which is why he used it. The passed through the heads of the 4-line up grimm and get going, passing straight in-between Blake and Yang who stood off to the side. They both turned to see where the bullet had landed only to find that the tree behind them had a small hold that passed straight through it. Both preyed the never had to take a shot like that.

With only two grim left, Coal reloaded the 6-round revolver and embedded two new bullets into the creatures' skulls. As the mass of creatures began to dissolve and disappear Coal turned back to the girls, taking his headphones off and placing them around his neck.

Yang simply grinned at him. _'That was kind of hot.'_

Blake just gave a deadpan stare not knowing what to think.

As the obsidian, eyed boy walked back up to them, gun back in its holster, Yang returned the beer and pointed something out that he hadn't realised. "You do realise you've been bleeding since before you woke up, right?" Coal patted himself down before his hand met his right shoulder… it was damp.

"For fuck sake… again?"

* * *

A/N

Well what did you guys think. Coals fighting style is a bit different to most. He focuses mainly on speed and only strikes when he sees and opportunity to do major damage to his enemies. He's more of a strategic and methodical fighter. Now a little more detail about the gun

Name: Forgotten Sins / Not all sins can be forgiven, and those sins shall be judged at the gate. Remember them. Fear them. (there is a reason why it's bio is dark. it will come to light in later chapters)

6-shot 44. Magnum

2 chambers. (one in front of the other) the chamber closest to the handle packs 240 grain semi-jacketed hollow point ammo while the other contains different types of dust which can be exchanged as easily as the bullets. The bullet passes though the dust lined chambers and enhances/enchants the shot. This can be mixed with glyphs to crated different effects across the battle field.

Design; silver barrel and chambers made with stainless steel. Cobalt blue handle made from ivory

Crater: Coal Schnee

Designer: Coal Schnee


	6. Chapter 6

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

This is a shorter chapter than the last few so I do apologise about that. If I didn't stop where I did I would have prattled on for ages.

So, I want to ask you guys something I'm goanna put up a poll because of the amount of positive response that this has gotten over the first 5 flipping chapters. Do you want longer chapters with a longer period between uploads, bearing in mind that uploads are random enough as it is. Or are you guys happy the way things are at the moment with shorter time between uploads and shorter chapters. Once the holidays are over and everything settles back down again, I'll be updating on a more consistent day and basis and want to get a plan set in place so that I can provide a entertain story for you lot while still having my normal life.

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Chapter 6: Let the Pieces Fall

Yang had forced Coal to sit down at the base of a tree after he had reluctantly agreed to having his shoulder looked over by the blond. He had told her that he would be able to do it himself and that the bleeding would stop on its own, but the busty brawler was stubborn and wouldn't let the group of three move on with the boy leaving a trail of blood for grimm to follow.

It was this reason that caused Coal to caved in and begin to remove the top layer of his clothing so that the blond had access to his stab wound. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh at how there would be another person at the school who would be finding out about not only the hole in his shoulder, but the many scars that painted a demonic picture on his chest and back. He was sick of the pitying looks that he got every time that one of the nurses or doctors had seen the scars at one of his regular check-ups. It damn right pissed him off when they tried to pretend they weren't even there, some even going as far as to avoid touching the scars in general when they had first appeared and needed to be looked at in case of any infection.

Thankfully, Blake had elected to stand guard around the perimeter of the tree line for any sightings of grimm and warn them of any possible danger during the quick pit stop. As he pulled the coal grey shirt over his head he heard Yang take in a quick inhale of air. _'Well great, now another person will see me as a monster.'_ Was his only thought.

Yang had watched with alluring eyes as the boy had started to remover the shirt. The fight she had just witnessed had made her more interested in the teen she had only met a day ago. As soon as he had lifted the shirt first eyes went straight to his stomach which adorned many scars… But she paid them no mind as she was more interested in the toned muscular abs that lay before her. The top travelled further up to reveal a well-toned set of pecks that were covered by bandages but she could still see the well-toned muscles clearly though the white rags. Sure, he wasn't as bulky as she typically liked… But he was hot. In her mind the scars seemed to make him hotter. She took a moment to appreciate the view.

Having struggled enough to bring the shirt over his head, Coal was able to see Yang's reaction. He had expected her eyes to hold the same pity that the others had when they had seen the boy's chest for the first time, except Yang's eyes didn't look like theirs. They seemed to hold something different, something unknown to him… Lust maybe.

As Yang set to work on re-dressing and re-bandaging the teen, she noticed him staring at the other member of their little group. Blake stood with her back turned a few yards away at the tree line, looking deep into the mass of trees. Yang couldn't risk them getting at each other's throats again, so she decided to inquire about their earlier incident.

"So, what happened back there? When you nearly shot Blake and strangled me?" She asked, attempting to meeting his gaze with soft, curious eyes.

"I have this thing about being woken up… If I feel threatened or in danger at all my brain will shut down and I'll rely solely on primal instinct. I guess the first thing that came to mind was that I was in a grimm infested forest. It was probably enough to set me off." Coal summed up, not taking his eyes of the black-haired girl.

"Yeah well, I think you pissed off Blake."

Coal laughed at the blond before finally looking her in the eyes with a playful smile. "You did say that I had a way with first impressions."

Yang giggled at the remark. He had made quite the entrance before Ozpins speech with the melon gag, but from going to serial prankster to cold blooded murderer seem like a bit of a stretch in her mind. She thought little of it though as his summary seemed to make sense, they were knee deep in a grimm infested forest after all.

"So how did you end up with the hole in your shoulder?" she inquired. Immediately regretting it as Coal's smile faded and his expression darkened. "You don't have to say if you don't want to, just making conversation is all." She back pedalled as she moved behind him to begin to dress the exit hole.

Coal breathed a heavy sigh before dropping his head looking at his right hand. "Its fine… My old man gave it to me." He said after a while. Yang simply made a humming noise in acceptance and silently continued working deciding to leave it at that. If he wanted to continue to divulge the obviously sensitive topic then he would.

"About two weeks ago, I was supposed to be attending Atlas with my twin sister. She was so excited to go, she had studied so hard and trained even harder to get to where she is now and I couldn't be any prouder of what she's become." He said with a smile hidden from the blond. "Only the old man refused to let her leave the house at the last minute… He was saying all kinds of shit like how he was the man of the house and what he says is law and whatever. My sis was distraught to say the least, but she would never disobey the bastard. She gives in too easily to him. So, I challenged him to a duel… I win we both go to Atlas and become hunters."

"And if you lost?" She asked as she started to apply a new set of bandages.

"I did lose…" He said, gesturing to his right shoulder. "And because I did, I was kicked out of the family, exiled from my home and told I could never see my sister again…"

Yang had stopped what she was doing. Unable to think about what she would have done if she had been in the same situation with Ruby. She would have broken down most likely, she loved her sister and would do pretty much anything to keep her happy. But having heard this from the boy she felt a mutual respect for the boy. He stood up against an obviously strict and abusive father and if the hole in his shoulder said enough about how much his father cared about his son's health, this boy Coal would do anything for his sister. She began to wonder if the rest of the scars came from the same person…

"How did you end up here?" Was all she was able to ask after taking a moment to regain her composure and offer the boy a soft grin. Coal looked up and over his shoulder to meet the blonds gaze, again expecting to see the look of pity that he loathed so much, but was once again taken back as the girl's eyes again held something different… an understanding look… and love for a close family member.

"Well there's the best part. One thing you should know is that my sister has never said a word against the old bastard, not a single toe out of line. Hell, she had never even cursed before. But she walks right up to the old man and starts swearing right in his face like a drunk sailor flapping on and on about how, and I quote here, 'completely and fucking utterly fucking ridiculous,' and how he was being 'such a pussy ass prick by taking such a cheap shot at me'. Ha-ha she even slapped the guy!" Coal began to laugh at the memory of Wiess standing on her tip toes while addressing his ex-father. The old guy had just stood there, eyes gaping wide, in complete shock at what was happening. "The guy never even tried to stop her as she said she was leaving with me and not coming back until I did."

Yang was also laughing, mainly because the boy had done a complete 180 and regained a shit eating grin that she was starting to get used to. "So, you both came here then, to what? Start a new life?"

"I suppose so yeah… I know a guy who knows a guy who got us a spot here. Lucky break I guess."

Yang agree with him as she finished up fixing the now newly bandaged boy. After he had redressed himself, he looked once again to his right hand and began to open and close his fingers in a fist. He could feel it, the movement of the fingers and the feeling of his muscles flexing when he squeezed harder. Sure, the feeling felt distant and hardly existent at all but it was enough for him to channel a small amount of aura though his arm and into his finder tips. A technique he had missed since he lost the feeling in his arm. Whatever the blond had done, he was truly grateful.

"Thank you." He said to the brawler with a soft smile.

After regrouping, he and the two girls opted to head deeper into the forest in search of the ruins and relics.

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(10 Minutes Later)

As the threesome exited the trees into a clearing

[Coal: HA! You said threesome!]

…

As the GROUP OF THREE exited the trees into a clearing, with Coal pouting for some reason, they noticed a rather large war torn looking structure. In its centre, were several podiums which were arranged in a crescent moon shape. Each podium held a different chess pieces which the group deemed as the relics. Some podiums were missing a relic due to some pairs having already passed through the area.

"Well that seemed almost too easy." Coal spoke up as they walked up to the ruins. Blake who was standing several feet away from him, like she had been doing for the entire journey, turned to him as replied with an emotionless tone.

"Well it's not like it's difficult to find."

Coal turned to face her, usual shit eating grin plastered on his face.

"So, she does speak! Damn lass, I figured the cat had your tongue or something." His eyes darted upwards as he noticed movement on top of the girl's head. _'Did her bow just twitch?'_ he asked himself. He'd save that question for later as Yang had begun to drag him by his good arm, as to not reopen the hole in his other one, up to the destroyed structure. As they reached the steps she forced him to sit atop the steps and began to address him like a small child.

"You don't have a partner yet, so just sit here and wait like a good little boy for one to show up." Coal looked up to the busty brawler which an amused look in his eyes.

"Ooo, demanding." He teased "I like that in a… Huh…" he stopped and looked up having heard a loud high pitched screech form somewhere above him. Far above him and the girls was an enormous black bird like creature circling the ruins. Upon closer inspection, he saw a small speck of white. "Wiess?" he questioned out loud.

Yang, confused by what he was staring at looked up also. _'Oh, great a Nevermore.'_ She thought until she also noticed the white, human shaped spec, and another red shaped one. "Ruby?" She also questioned. And why was the red spec getting bigger.

Coal also noticed this as he summoned a glyph under his feet and drew Forgotten Sins, equipping the black gravity cartridge, and fired into the centre of the glyph. The combined force of his semblance and dust had force him to jump an abnormal height to be able to catch the still falling girl. Holding her bridal style, he turned to look her in her silver eyes while they were still several meters in the air and asked "Just dropping in?" Ruby didn't get a chance to respond as the two began to fall once again. Coal, having landed on his feet bending his knees slightly to cushion the impact, had crated a small crater at which he stood in the middle of, still holding a blushing Ruby Rose.

Having let the girl down so she could go hug her sister, Coal bent down to rub away the pain in his knees. "Superhero landing are really not good for the knees." He informed no one in particular. Blake looked at the crater with a still emotionless face. On the inside though she was thinking that the guy was almost like one of the heroes out of her books.

"It did look bad ass though." She said quietly. Wait why did she say that; the guy had tried to kill her not twenty minutes ago and here she was complementing him. He didn't seem to remember though as he looked over to her.

"Yeah it did, didn't it?" Blake felt her cheeks heat up slightly as she locked eyes with him. Gone were the cold, dark orbs that she had first seen, those eyes belonged to someone who had seen their fair share of death and despair. In their place were a pair of eyes that glistened with child like amusement and full of adventure. His smile was so sincere and child like it was almost like he had just opened the first present on Christmas morning. But he was human… and in her experience, humans were deceitful and sly. And if what she thought was true, that only a Schnee could summon glyphs, then she knew that only one of those looks could be real. Her mind told her that the first set of eyes she had seen, were the windows to the boy's true soul.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a loud roar shook the ground beneath her feet. Out of the trees came an enormous Ursa major, swinging wildly with its claws in all directions as if fighting an invisible enemy. The sound of two small explosions cut through the violent roars of the beast and it fell face first into the dirt, revealing two teens atop its back. A girl with orange hair clad in a white top and pink skirt holding a grenade launcher, who seemed to be having the time of her life, and a long black haired boy with a stand of pink highlights dressed in a formal green suit and white trousers. Who seemed absolutely terrified.

The boy fell off the grimm onto the ground, pretty much hugging the dirt as if it were a long lost best friend, panting as if he had just run a marathon. "Nora…. Please… Don't ever do that again." He pleaded between breaths.

The girl, Nora as she had been called by the boy in green, ran straight up to the ruins and picked up a white Rook piece, placing it on top of her head, she began to do a little victory dance while singing. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle~!"

"NORA!"

"Hehe, coming Ren!" She called out to her companion.

The rest of the group just stared at the two in utter confusion. The display of pure childish happiness was something that just didn't seem to fit into a forest of deadly creatures of dark origin that would tear every one of them to pieces if given the chance. Even Coal thought this was way too odd, sure he liked to make a daft joke every once in a while, but this girl just seemed way too… Giddy.

Another shriek from the Nevermore cause the ever-growing group to look back towards the sky where the gigantic bird was making another pass over the ruins. With Wiess still clinging to its underbelly.

"Hey sis! I call dibs on the next ride!" Coal shouted up to his twin. Cupping his hands around his mouth to try and increase the level of volume.

Up in the air Wiess had heard he brothers request and decided to slap him upside the head herself at such a stupid idea. She let go of the large feathers of the beast's stomach and began her decent, using her glyphs to slow her down during the fall.

She got about half way to the ground before being smacked out of the air and into a nearby tree by a blond boy in white armour, who for some reason was sailing through the air with remarkable speed. It just wasn't her day.

A collective groan escaped the lips of the group having witnessed the white-haired girl being slapped out the sky. That had to hurt. Coal had rushed over to his sister having expected her to be hurt by the impact. "You ok Snow Angel?" He said reaching out to her offering a hand up.

Wiess took the hand up before smacking her brother upside the head, the second to the main reason for her needing to come back down to the ground in the first place. The first most being that she really hated heights.

"Of course, I'm fine Frosty. Anyway, have you seen my partner she's short, black hair and a red cloak?"

"You mean Ruby? She's over there with her sis bantering about something or other."

"Great! Do you have a partner yet?"

"Not yet… But maybe…" Coal turned to face the knight who was still down on the ground. "Jaune did you buddy up with someone yet?"

The blond raise his head to look at his first Beacon friend. "Yeah, a girl. Pyrrha."

As if on cue another shriek echoed through the trees as the Spartan in question sprinted out the bushes into the clearing. Following close behind her was a very old and very pissed Deathstalker. Coal just looked at the scene confused.

"Ok hold up…" He looks at Yang. "So both our sisters fall out the sky after taking a scenic ride on a Nevermore," He then looks to Nora and Ren, "You two arrive via Ursa piggy back," Points to Jaune, "You came in like a wrecking ball," And the turns and gestures with both hands to the red head girl still running away from the oversized scorpion, "And Pyrrha looks like she's training a deathstalker to play fetch! Is there anything I've missed?"

As soon as he finished, a large shadow loomed over him blocking the sun from the back of his head. Coal turned around to find that standing right behind him, snarling between some very sharp teeth, was an ancient and very big, Alpha Beowolf. And it seemed to be missing the rest of its pack...

"You be patient and wait your turn!" Coal yelled pointing at the blood eyed beast.

ROOOOAAAARRRRR~

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A/N

A bit different to the original I know but hey this is an AU fic after all I'm aloud a little leeway. I've already wrote quite far ahead to like maybe chapter 10 and I'm just going through making some minor adjustments and corrections to each chapter which is taking some time. Once I'm finished with a chapter I upload it. That is why the uploads are so random. So please if you could answer my poll so I can see what you guys want from this fic ill be extremely grateful.

SEE YA NEXT TIME!


	7. Chapter 7

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I really hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do. if you haven't already, check out the poll on my page to decide between longer chapters or shorter ones. By longer chapters I mean like over 5 k + in words and shorter ones will be maybe 2 to 3 k.

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Chapter 7: Battle at the Watchtower.

Rooooaaaar~

"Hey! Don't talk to me like that young man?"

Roooooaaaar~

"I don't care what you say! It's not nice to sneak up on people."

Roooooaaaarrrr~

"Well screw you too!"

The group of teens could only watch with slack jaws at what they were witnessing. Coal was standing having an argument with a beowolves that was at least three times his size and it looked like he was winning it. Pyrrha meanwhile, was still running away from the Deathstalker somewhere in the background. They all knew that she needed help, but they couldn't take their eyes away from the boy and grimm. It was just too weird.

Yang, keeping her eyes focused on argument with amusement, leant closer to the white themed girl. She had identified the smaller girl as someone the boy knew quite well. "Does he actually speak grimm, or is he just messing with us?"

Wiess could only put her face in her hands and shake her head at her twin. "Knowing him, it could be either… Or both."

Everyone was shaken out of their stupor when Pyrrha landed in front of the group face down in the dirt having taking hit from the deathstalker. Ruby took it upon herself to rush the beast with her enormous scythe in an attempt the slice the creature in two. However due to its hard shell, she was barely able to make a dent in its armour and was forced into a strategic retreat. The grimm hot on her heels. "Don't worry I'm totally fine!" She shouted back to the group

But she wasn't. the never more had made another pass over the ruins, and having seen the red cloaked girl that had woken it from its slumber, swiped its wings down towards the girl firing a barrage of feather like spears. One of which had snagged the girls cloak, rooting her in place.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled as she tried to run to her sister as the Deathstalker loomed over the trapped girl. She was too far away she couldn't cover the distance even with a boost from the recoil of her gauntlets…

Wiess outmatched her speed using her own glyphs and sped past the brawler with her weapon drawn, cycling through the chambers to select the one she needed to save her partner. something she had learned from her brother when she had first unlocked her semblance was that glyph can pretty much do anything, so long as they were constructed the correct way dust can be added to create almost anything. She landed in front of Ruby, who had covered her eyes waiting for the grim to strike, and stabbed her rapier into the ground using her semblance and ice dust to form a protective shield around the pair and also encasing the grimm's tail that was heading straight for Ruby's head.

"Ruby, are you ok?" she asked.

Ruby opened her eyes slowly to see a wall of ice between her and the tail of her would be killer, the grimm struggling to break free was just inside her on the other side of the wall. She stared at her saviour in awe as she spoke again.

"Look, I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot and don't know each other very well yet… But we are partners now, so were going to have to work together. Think we can do that?"

"I'm sorry… I just… wanted to prove to you that I'm not just a kid. That I belong here." Ruby said averting her gaze.

"Of course you belong here, but you're not the only one who's here. We're in this together."

Coal looked to his sister having heard her conversation with her partner. The grimm had had enough of arguing some time ago and began to take some wild swings at him which he was casually dodging around. He dodged another strike with a soft smile on his face as he watched his twin help the other girl up and couldn't help but be thankful that she had made a friend here. They had always had a secluded life and had very little contact with children their own age and seeing his sister making such a heartfelt speech to someone she barely knew made him happy. He knew that they were going to be close friends.

Bring his attention back to the grimm he dodge another swipe from the beasts claws and having taken some inspiration from his sister, drew his revolver and fired an ice enhanced bulled into the grimms feet securing it into the ground.

Taking a quick jump back to create some distance between him and the creature he turned to the disoriented group of teens, a serious expression on his face. He held no smile this time, only a look of determination.

"Alright listen up!" this got their attention "Regroup with your partners and get a relic. I want everyone at that cliff alive and ASAP with relic in hand. Complete the objective! Now GO!"

Needless to say, the teens obeyed the order.

Ruby and Wiess took a white knight piece. Along with Blake and Yang who took a direct copy of the piece.

Jaune and the now standing Pyrrha took a white rook piece which matched the one that Nora had picked up earlier.

Having collected their prize, the teens ran for the cliff just as the Deathstalker broke free from its icy trap.

Coal turned to make was towards the grimm and intercept it, only to be cut off from the scorpion and his friends by the Alpha Beowolf that he had trapped earlier. "Ready for round two?" Coal dodged another claw and could only watch as the Deathstalker chased after his friends. He hoped they would be ok.

Deciding that they would be fine, he realised that he could use the single grim to see how far his arm had healed since being pierced by his ex-father. Coal reached inside of his coat once more and pulled out a single black leather glove which he slipped over his right hand. As he did, he channelled as much aura as he could into his hand which caused a small white glyph to glow on the back of his gloved hand. _'Come on is that all I can get!'_ He inwardly cursed as he reached inside the many pocked of the coat once more and pulled out a blue ice dust capsule. Sure, his arm still hurt but he was barely able to channel 20% of his aura into his hand. And that had been difficult enough.

The ebony gauntlet on his right arm opened to reveal a small slot where he placed the ice dust capsule and locked it in place. He then placed a hand over the top plate of the armpiece and pumped it like a shotgun, an audible click ringing out round the now hollow ruins. With some of the feeling returning to his arm he wanted to try something, and to do that he needed to be focused, so he left his headphones around his neck. Something he only did when he went all out in a fight.

Coal crouched down at the last second barely avoiding the claw that swiped the air above his head. Using the glyph that had been engraved into the leather glove with different types of dust, he was able to use the structure of the glyph to form the ice dust inside his gauntlet to create a sword made entirely of ice. An estoc to be precise.

His favourite weapon in hand, Coal thrust the blade into the grimms thigh. Piercing the flesh and muscle of the grimm, he let go of the makeshift handle leaving the creature with a large icicle halfway through its leg. Still crouched low to the ground and making use of the obvious speed advantage against the towering grimm, he summoned a new estoc and embedded it into the beast's chest, leaving that sword also sticking half way through the beast.

This enraged the creature of darkness and using the only emotion it had, it took another swing at the boy aiming to tear the human in half. The grimm missed again as Coal had jumped to dodge the swing using a glyph. The Beowolf did manage to tear a large portion of the boy's wine red coat. At least it was getting closer to its mark.

Coal flipped over the beast creating another new sword and planting that one in the beasts right shoulder, leaving the beast arm limp and lifeless. He then kicked off the beast back, preforming a quick backflip while drawing his revolver and, equipping the yellow lighting dust cartridge, fired twice at the monster. Once in its other shoulder and other knee. Having hit the beast in its joints and weak points, the creature fell to the ground with a roar of pain from the icicles embedded in its body and the paralysing shock of lightning in its shoulder and leg.

Coal, having landed a few feet away from the downed beast, walked up to its head which was face down in the dirt. It lifted its head slightly as Coal's feet came into view and let out a low snarl. It was still out for blood, and Coal could see in the beast's eyes that it wouldn't stop until its blood thirst was satisfied. The only thing stopping it from attacking was the fact that it had taken to many critical strikes, leaving the beast paralysed. Coal forged one last estoc and stabbed the monster in the back of its skull.

Coal removed the blade this time rather than leaving it stuck halfway in the grimms skull and began to study his favourite creations condition. An estoc was built to be a long, thin and straight blade, but his construction was slightly curved at the centre. Along the length of ice were many dints and chips as if it had seen many battles and had barely been taken care off, most ancient blades were in better condition that this. He had only used the blade the once to end the beast's life and for it to be in this condition was beyond belief. His constructions were feeble to begin with, ice is not the strongest material to forge blades with, but normally the quality was much higher than this. This sword was worse that some of the one he had made when he had first started ice forging blades. This was beyond pathetic.

 _ **You are weak.**_

Pain rang thought his head. A pain that caused him to fall to one knee grasping at his head. It had been a while since he had a headache quite as bad as this one. He thought the therapy had stopped this from happening… Apparently not.

The pain left as quick as it had came. Coal stood back up and turned to run to the cliff edge where the rest of his friends had disappeared. Taking one last look into the trees where he had come from, he began to wonder when his partner would show up when something occurred to him… There was an odd number of students. Maybe he hadn't found a partner because they were all taken. Cursing under his breath as he turned back to the ruins to obtain a relic and at least complete the objective himself, only to see a podium that hadn't been there before.

In the very centre of the ruins there was a new podium, and it held a chess piece of its own. A black pawn piece. He didn't stop to think too deeply about the hidden meaning behind the piece or where it had appeared from, he simple picked it up and stored it away before running off to where his friends had lead the enraged Deathstalker.

As he ran he discarded his now torn coat revealing a hidden bag that sat at his lower back, where he kept all the extra ammo and dust cartridges. He also set his headphone over his head in a hopeful attempt the keep the headaches away. Leaving the feeble creation that was his estoc with the dissolving grimm.

[Battle music: Of Mice & Men – Broken Generation]

It didn't take Coal long to reach his friends that were now locked in a heated battle with both the Deathstalker and Nevermore. His friends and sister had been backed into a corner by both the Deathstalker which blocked there only was out of a watchtower which sat in the middle of a gorge that didn't seem to have any visible floor. And the nevermore circling above the watchtower blocking their way up the cliff where the end point of the trial was. Deciding to take care of the closest grimm first coal rushed towards the Deathstalker drawing Forgotten Sins to aid his comrades.

Just as he was about to fire his first shot at the Grimms unarmoured arse, Coal saw a figure fall off the bridge and into the gorge… It was Blake who had fallen after being knocked back by Nora trying to hold back a strike from the enormous scorpion like grimm. Coal instantly changed priorities and decided to help the falling girl. Sure she gave off a bad vibe and that he didn't really like her that much despite only knowing her for less than an hour, but Coal wasn't heartless… At least that what he constantly reminded himself. He summoned a glyph to enhance his speed to reach the girl.

Blake had just come back to her sense after taken the full body hit from Nora, she found herself falling into the endless mist of the gorge. That blow had disorientated her slightly and it took her a brief moment to collect herself and begin to think of a way out of the situation. She prepared to throw her weapon and attach it to a nearby column which held the watchtower and swing her way back up to the surface using the black ribbon attached to the end of her sword.

As she outstretched her hand to take aim, her hand was grabbed by someone and her focus changed to who had been stupid enough to dive down into the gorge with her. Her eyes locked with a pair of determined looking, obsidian orbs…

"I got you!" Coal exclaimed, as he twisted his body and threw the black themed girl back up to the surface with strength that she never thought the slim boy would have. In fact, she flew past ground level and kept climbing eventually coming to a stop just above the Nevermore, in the perfect position for her to land on the grimm's back and slice her way down the length of the grimm before leaping off and back down to the watchtower where her partner was waiting for her. She had no idea if the boy had planned for her to do that or if it was just a coincidence that she had ended up in such a perfect attacking position.

Coal smirked, his plan had worked perfectly. Despite the grimm appearing to have taken very little damage he had gotten a good idea of the black-haired girl fighting style. This was enough to confirmed his suspicions on where he had seen her before. He needed to speak to his old mentor General Ironwood when he got back to Beacon.

Storing the information, Coal summoned another glyph and combing it with his black gravity dust, he was able to climb back up to the bridge to fight the Deathstalker alongside his rival, first Beacon friend and the giddy girl just as Ren was thrown from the grimms tail and into a cobblestone wall with force.

"Ren!" Nora screamed having seen her long time best friend take such a hard hit.

Jaune on the other hand was studying the tail of the grimm. Ren had been able to do some serious damage to the tail as the golden spike at the end seemed to be barely attached to the rest of its tail, the flesh around the base of the spike, riddle with bullet holes. And that gave him an idea.

"Pyrrha!" he called to his partner. She must have been thinking along the same lines as upon hearing Jaune's voice, she threw her shield towards the damaged tail. Slicing through its already damaged flesh and letting the large golden spike fall into the beasts head. Somehow the shield ricocheted off a nearby column and returned to its owner like a boomerang.

"Nora, nail it!" Jaune called next, turning to the hammer wielder. Just as Coal landed next to him.

"Heads up" Nora called out to the Spartan and using the girls shield as a Launchpad, she leaped into the air in a very high arc.

"Coal bind it!" Jaune demanded turning to his friend. Coal nodded to the blond right before raising his revolver and fired at the grimm with an enchanted ice bullet as Nora reached the peak of her jump. The ice rounds had snared the beast's front legs to the cobblestone bridge leaving it unable to dodge the incoming giddy girl who was about to drop the hammer.

The force of her strike shattered the bridges connection to the land and sent the 3 remaining teens sailing over the grimm due to the seesaw effect. The grimm, still being attached to the disconnected bridge by Coal's ice, fell with the remaining pieces into the never ending mist below.

As the teens made it back to solid ground, Jaune landing on his back, Nora landing on her backside, Pyrrha on one knee in a posse and Coal, after doing several flips and spins in the air, landed on his feet like a gymnast at the end of their routine. Ren stood off to the side holding a white plaque, with the numbers 7.8 wrote on it.

"Aww come on man!" Coal cried removing his headphones. "That was at least an 8.5 maybe a low 9."

Ren shook his head as he responded in a serious tone. "Your third and fourth rotation were off balance. And you stumbled when you landed slightly."

Coal huffed and turned away from the boy. "Your third and fourth rotation is off balance." Having given the worst possibly comeback known to man, he remembered something… His sister was fighting a Nevermore. "Shit, Wiess!" He cried as he made to head towards the other battle. He was held back as Pyrrha place a hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her.

"You need to stop worrying about her. She can protect herself remember."

"But she…"

"No! Just watch!" Huffing once more, Coal averted his gaze from his rival and turned his attention to the ongoing battle, ready to intervene if necessary.

Yang was standing in the bird's mouth firing dust rounds down its throat. She jumped out of the beast's beak just before it slammed head first into the Cliffside and landed on a small structure. He watched as his sister raced up to the grounded bird with glyph enhanced speed, her rapier raised to strike, just as the bird was trying to take off once more.

"She's not gonna make it!" Coal grumbled raising his gun to the Nevermore, only for his rival to forcefully smack his arm back down.

"I said watch!" She growled through closed teeth. Coal locked eyes with her and in that second, but the look in her eyes was enough to let him know that if he tried to intervene again he would face her wrath. He reluctantly agreed to stay put, though he still kept his revolver in a tight grasp.

Wiess had stabbed the ground just as the Nevermore had lifted into the air and managed to encase its tail inside a construct of ice keeping the creature grounded and in one place. She raced back to where her partner was being loaded into a makeshift sling shot and summoned a glyph that she could use to fire the scythe wielder at the grimm.

"And I thought only Coal had the crazy ideas." Wiess smiled to herself.

"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked, eyes locked on the grimm.

"Hmph, can I?"

…

"Can you?"

"Of course I can!" Wiess scoffed as she fired her partner into the grimm.

Ruby sailed through the air, firing as she went to increase her speed, she smacked into the grimm's neck and using her scythe, locked the blade around the grimm's throat as Wiess summoned more glyphs up the Cliffside that the girl could use to run up the wall. Having reached the top of the cliff the gimm got snagged on an outstretched rock and, literarily being stuck between a rock and a sharp place, got its head cut clean from it's neck. Its headless body falling into the endless void.

Coal ran up to his sister. She was bent over slightly with her hands on her knees taking long deep breaths in an attempt to get some strength back, but she did look relatively unharmed. Coal still needed to be sure that she was defiantly going to be alright considering that she had just fought a Nevermore and probably pushed herself too far.

"ME NEXT! ME NEXT! I wanna go on the slingshot!" he pleaded as he stopped next to his twin. Wiess quickly stood up straight and playfully slapped the back of her brother's head, a habit she showed when her brother was making a fool of himself. _'Yep, she's fine.'_

* * *

A/N

Well that was a thing.

So, you've all now seen Coal's fighting style, what you guys think? Like with his revolver he will only strike with his ice made estocs to either kill or cripple an enemy. He will typically dodge during the beginning of a fight to get an idea on how his opponent fights and where their weaknesses are to exploit them. He calls this style "Cold Retribution."

We have also seen most of Coals personality traits as well and boy are they mixed. It's almost like he has several personas at once… What could have caused this?

Stay tuned for the next chapter where teams will be assigned and we find out where Coal remembers seeing Blake.

BYE-BYE!


	8. Chapter 8

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

Well hello there… I know it's been a while since last update but well it's the holidays so get off my back! Well here is the next instalment to this fic the Schnee Black Sheep I hope you all enjoy and the poll for Coal's pairing will open soon I just need to address a few things first in the story. And yes, I know I'm not great at P.O.V writing at all but I wanted to have a go at it for a change of pace.

BTW! For all you followers, after the holidays and new year this story will be updated late on Saturday evening UK time. Yes, I'm a Brit but no I don't drink tea so don't bother with that lame ass joke and if anyone made that joke mentally well then you are all doylems.

Anyway, enough of my rambling here you gann lad n lasses and anyone in-between!

I don't own RWBY… do I really need to keep repeating this.

* * *

Chapter 8: Void

Having returned to Beacon the group of nine teens made their way back to where the headmaster had given his speech the day before. They didn't need to wait long for their names to be called up.

"Ruby Rose, Wiess Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. You received the white knight pieces. Therefor you will be part of team RWBY (RUBY) lead by… Ruby Rose." Ozpin informed from the stage.

Wiess couldn't help but let her shoulders dropped slightly when the leaders name was announced. Not out of disappointment but more out of relief that she didn't have to deal with all the pressure that would come with the job. She wanted to be stronger before she wanted to take on any roles like that. Plus, the approving smile and thumbs up her twin had given her new leader and partner had given her enough of a reason to accept the younger girl as her superior. If Coal approved of something the she would too.

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren. You received the white Rook pieces and will therefore be known as team JNPR (JUNIPER) lead by, Jaune Arc."

Coal jumped up to the stage this time to congratulate the blond knight with a bone crushing hug having speared the blond to the floor. "Get in there lad!" Coal laughed as he released the blond and got up to speak to Pyrrha. "now you play nice with him." He said indicating downwards to the knight. "He's really a big softie." He whispered the last part into the girls ear, who started blushing at the close proximity of her rival.

As the teens reset themselves to wait for the only person left to be assigned to a team, Coal, Ozpin spoke once more.

"All of you will be shown to your new rooms that will be shared between the members of the assigned teams. Your luggage has already been transferred to your new accommodation so I suggest you get yourselves unpacked and go to bed early. Classes will start in the morning." Having concluded his speech Ozpin walked off the stage leaving the group of teens confused.

Wiess' confusion was broken upon realising that her twin was never assigned to a team, did that mean he didn't pass the initiation trial, that he was to be kicked out of Beacon. Her mind began to race with questions such as, where would he go and what would he do to survive. He had been killing grim since the age of 10 and to be kicked out of Beacon just like he had been kicked out of his home was too much for her to handle. Wiess didn't notice that tears began to form around the edges of her eyes.

Coal heard her sob and quickly wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. "Hey" he said as he rubbed her back slowly. "Its ok."

"No, it's not ok! why weren't you assigned to a team? Why am I allowed to stay while you are going to be kicked out!" she screamed through sobs. Coal cupped her chin and raised her head so that she could look into his eyes as he spoke to her.

"because your strong Snow Angel. Not just on the battlefield but also mentally. You've kept me in check for god knows how many years now and Ozpin can probably see that strength. You belong here Snow Angel. You're going to be a great huntress." He was right, she was now a huntress in training and she couldn't show weakness, no matter how much the feeling of her brother leaving hurt. He had been on many hunting missions in the past with General Ironwood and her father but he had always had someone with him to back him up if need be. If Coal left now, he would have no one to turn to and nowhere to go.

Ruby and Jaune's scrolls vibrated at the same time so they turned away from the brother and sister to tend to the message that they had received, exchanging a glance after they both finished reading it.

Jaune spoke first. "Ozpin wants to see us in his office. We should head up there."

Ruby finished the rest for him. "He said to bring you as well Coal. He also said to check your scroll, he tried to call you like 5 times or something."

Coal released his still sobbing sister, she had calmed down slightly and was returning back to her normal self so he was sure that she would be ok after a few minutes. Coal went to reach inside his coat when her realised he had ditched it inside the emerald forest when the Alpha Beowolf had torn it. His scroll was inside the coats inner breast pocket…

Wiess heard him mutter a "Son of a bitch." Under his breath and softly slapped the back of her brother for his use of foul language. The slap had lacked its usual playfulness and after seeing her brothers worried gaze confirmed that he also knew that it wasn't like her normal playful slaps. She felt like all the energy had been drained out of her. Like nothing mattered anymore. The longest the twins had ever been apart was six months and that was because Coal had been recovering from his injuries which resulted in the mass scaring. Now, she was about to lose him again after coming so close to them being permanently separated almost two weeks ago by their father. She had gotten enraged at her father when he had exiled Coal and now, Wiess felt nothing. She was completely defeated.

The long walk to the headmasters office was silent and gloomy. Wiess and her twin hung at the back of the group in order to spend as much time with each other as possible. Coal had one arm locked around his sisters shoulder in a warm embrace since they set off.

When they reached the door Wiess turned to her brother, her eyes having found a new resolve during the journey to the Headmaster of the school. She looked straight ahead towards the door where the strongest hunter in the academy resided. She and her brother had been through hell and back for as long as she could remember and they had always relied on each other to get through anything that life threw at them. This was no exception.

"Whatever happens… We stay together." She said in a calm voice

"Yeah, I promise to always stand beside you."

* * *

(Headmaster Ozpin's Office)

Coal stood in the middle of the group of teens with his twin sister Wiess standing beside him to his right while he had Pyrrha to his left. Ozpin sat behind his desk drinking his endless cup of coffee while reading a tablet in silence. The teens had been waiting for a few minutes for the headmaster to speak before he finally put the scroll down and address his students.

"14 missions in the last 2 years, 3 of which were under your command and during those missions not a single soldier or hunter died." Wiess' eyes widened. She knew that her brother had been on missions with General Ironwood but she had been under the assumption that he had only gone as an observer, not to actually lead and participate during them. The headmaster continued. "Most Huntsmen would be envious of a record like that regardless of your age Mr. Coal. Your number of confirmed kills is also higher than most of the recent graduates of this academy. I must say your file holds you in very high respect."

Coal scoffed and muttered so that only he could hear. "Depends which file you read and which kill count you mean." His friend didn't seem to hear him, little did he know that the old hunter had exceptional hearing, having spent many years as a huntsman he learned to listen to any discreet meaning behind a person's words and having heard the young boy, he spoke again.

"Regardless. It was todays display of skill that has brought you to my office." Ozpin showed the tablet to the group, it played a video of the battles Coal had participated in during the trial. How he defeated a pack of Beowolves with his revolver, his solo fight against the pack's alpha using his signature style, Cold Retribution, and how he rescued Blake from the bottomless gorge and assisted in taking down the Deathstalker.

Wiess and Pyrrha, who had seen Coal fight enough times before, held a small smile as they watched the display. It was Jaune, who had wide eyes and an open mouth watching the clip of Coal against the alpha Beowolf, who spoke first.

"You really are a badass!"

Ozpin laughed at the teens words. "Well that's one way to put it."

Coal had lost patience with the old hunter. "What the hell am I doing here Grey? I never found a partner, I never got assigned a team and here you are just proving how much of a badass I am." Sick of dancing around the subject he asked. "Am I getting kicked out or not?"

This caught the attention of the rest of the group and they all turned their attention back to the headmaster waiting for him to answer. Ozpin kept the kids sit in suspense for a moment before speaking up again.

"No." Wiess let out a deep sigh of relief. "You are far to valuable a resource to let go. That and it would be a shame to split up the twins."

"Twins?" Jaune and Ruby questioned at the same time.

"Yes." Ozpin gestured to both Wiess and Coal. "I thought it may have been obvious. Mr Coal and Ms Schnee are twins."

The group of teens, except Pyrrha, all face the now identified twins with looks of confusion. Now that they were looking closer they could see some resemblance and some features about them were similar. But they had 2 major differences Wiess had snow white hair and ice blue eyes while Coal had coal black hair and obsidian black eyes. It was Wiess who saw decided to answer the obvious question the group had but never voiced… How?

"Coal is my older twin by 12 minutes, and yes our eyes may be different but his hair is naturally white, the same as mine. He dyed it black just after we left home." A collective of ohs rang out around the group. Pyrrha's being the loudest having known the boy from before he had dyed his hair.

Coal was still glaring at the headmaster. If he was to stay at Beacon didn't he need a team? He questioned this to the abusive coffee drinker.

"So am I going to be a solo act or what?"

"No, you will be assigned your own Leader position for your teams"

Coal lost all patience, again. "For fuck sake Grey just tell me what's happening!" he yelled flailing his arms around

"That's enough Soldier!" Out from the corner of the headmasters office came a deep stern voice which caused all the teens, minus Coal, to jump a few inches into the air having being startled.

"'Bout time you said something Ironarse." Coal spat without turning to face the General who had been standing behind the teens in one of the corners of the office. Ironwood walked over to stand beside Ozpin.

"Still have an issue with authority figures I see… When will you grow up?"

"As soon as you get laid. OW!" Wiess had just slapped her twin on the back of the head again, with a lot more force now that she had been assured that her brother was now staying at the academy with her. Coal glared at his sister and let out a low growl because of the force of the slap.

The general interrupted the twins before they started an argument with each other. "As you both remember, you asked me to get you both a place here when you left your home. I'm simply here to congratulate you personally on your acceptance into the academy my former student. And to deliver a gift from your eldest sister." He held a package out for Coal.

Sceptical at first Coal, accepted the box and opened it. And found an old friend of his… Something he left at home when he was exiled from his family. He heard his old mentor speak again and he reached into the box to accept the gift from his eldest sister, Winter. "She said that you don't suit the colour red."

Coal slid the familiar material over his shoulders and let it rest down his back, a sense of piece flowing through his body as he donned a frost white hooded trench coat with coal black leather shoulder pads. The arms of the coat faded at the wrists from white to a dark obsidian black colour which matched his eyes. The hood was frost white with white fur around its edge and the lining of the coat was cobalt blue. On the back of the coat was a obsidian black glyph, the Schnee family crest.

The coat overflowed him with a sense of calmness and tranquillity. That was until he suddenly felt discussed with himself for wearing the crest of his once family name. Why had Winer given this to him? As if to answer his internal question he spotted a small note left inside the box that had been wrote by the sister in question. The note read: _Despite what father may say you still are and always will be my brother Coal and you will always be a part of our family. Make sure you take care of Wiess. P.S. You had better be wearing that coat the next time I see you or I will punish you. Love from Winter._

Coal shuddered as he read the last part. He remembered the type of punishment Winter usually gave out when someone disobeyed her… Truth be told, she had always scared him more than his father had. Before he could get to lost in the memory of his last punishment from his elder sister Coal heard Ozpin's voice.

"Now for your team. Your record shows that you are more than capable of dealing with higher calibre missions than most other students here. Because of this I am permitting you to undergo missions that are normally reserved for 2nd year students and above starting today. Your team will consist of anyone on both team RWBY and team JNPR. You can only make a 4-person team for any given mission but the decision of who will go with you I will leave in your hands. General Ironwood has also agreed to this as he has already said on more than one occasion to me that you are far beyond normal standards. As for your team name, you, and anyone who goes with you on missions will be referred to as team VOID. An endless white space filled with countless possibilities, limited only by one's imagination. However, this will not be an official team as there will be no permanent members aside for you Mr. Coal. Meaning that you and the members selected for missions will be reported as on leave of absence. Is this arrangement acceptable?"

Coal stood and looked at the headmaster emotionless for a second as he processed what he had just been told. He didn't have a single team, he had a small army at his disposal and couldn't help but agree with the hunters definition of the teams name. countless formations and combinations raced through his head as he thought about how he could use this to his advantage. It didn't take long for his emotionless face to sprout his typical shiteating grin when he said.

"Sure, I can deal with that."

Ozpin smiled at the boy before taking another quick drink from his mug. "Good, now I suggest that you all retire to your assigned rooms and prepare for class tomorrow."

As the group began to leave, Coal stood in the same spot not ready to leave yet. He needed to speak to the general about something while he had the chance… and ask Ozpin for a replacement scroll.

"Is there something else Mr. Coal?"

"Yes sir, I need to speak to the General for a moment." The general's eyes widened at the formal tone the boy used. He instantly knew this was serious. Ozpin simply nodded.

"Of course, you may stay. The rest of you may return to your rooms."

The teens exited the office, Wiess taking one final look at her brothers back. A small smile grew on her face seeing him wearing his usual frost white coat and reminded her of a time when she looked at it when she felt lost. Her brother would always come back to her no matter whether he was away on a mission or had gotten himself lost after going out on one of his many walkabouts. From that moment, she began to see the coat as a symbol of hope more that the piece of fashion her brother used it for. She was the last of the teens to leave the office as the door closed behind her, she finally felt like they would both find a new home here at Beacon.

As soon as the door closed Coal turned to face the general, face completely serious. "I need the files from the train robbery a few months ago. The one involving Adam Taurus."

* * *

Coal sat on his bed having reviewed the files that the general had given him. Ironwood had needed some persuasion but eventually caved and gave him the files. Coal sat upright on one of the four beds in his room, face illuminated from the screen of his new scroll, watching CCTV footage from the Atlas Military train. It showed the leader of the terrorist group, the White Fang's Adam Taurus and his second in command and lead scout for the organisation fighting against one of the military latest robotic monstrosities.

The girl in the video had no real name, so the military had given her a code name to use as reference in other records, Black Cat. She was the White Fang's second in command, the leaders lover and main scout for the organisation… and she was here. At the very same school. And on the same team as his sister. He needed to know why. Despite the video evidence, the clip was far too blurry and couldn't be used as sufficient evidence in court. But the way the girl's movements matched those of the girl he had thrown at the Nevermore in the forest earlier that day. He knew that his gut had been right. That Blake Belladonna was the White Fang's Black Cat.

And he could use her, manipulate her so that her could get to Adam… it was already well known in the military that the Faunus Leader had one weakness. His love for his right hand woman. A plan formed as he thought about how to use the girl to get to the leader of Remnant's greatest terrorist organisation. A sadistic and evil smile crept onto his face… before another headache came.

 _ **Kill them**_

Coal didn't sleep that night.

* * *

(4 Years ago – P.O.V James Ironwood)

*KNOCK KNOCK

"Enter."

I heard the door open but kept my focus on the mountain of paperwork in front of me. Only one of my subordinates would stay at the office just as late as me. Winter Schnee. The girl had recently been assigned to one of my squads due to the relationship I hold with her father. One could say that we used to be close friends.

To my knowledge, She wasn't working on any open cases and had no ongoing missions so what could she possibly need to speak to me about.

"Permission to speak freely sir." She asked me in her typical formal tone. _'Seriously this girl needs to get laid.'_

"Yes. You may Ms. Schnee."

I heard her let out a deep sigh and that was enough to know that something was wrong with the young woman. I decided the paperwork could wait so that I could help the Schnee and lifted my head away from the vast amount of work. She looked exhausted, bags under her eyes were a dead giveaway that she hadn't slept well in days, possibly weeks. And her eyes were distant and full of concern for a close loved one. _'What the hell is going on? I've never seen her look so vulnerable.'_ She finally spoke after a few moments of silence, I presume to think about what she was going to say.

"Sir… I need a favour. Please."

(The next day)

' _Damn it Winter, what have you gotten me into?'_

I had just arrived at my destination. Winter had asked me to speak to her brother as he was having some trouble coming out of a dark place. What she had forgot to mention was that he had been inside some sort of insane asylum for the last six months under some heavy medication and constant supervision.

I walked up to the receptionist who looked like she didn't really want to be here as she was paying more attention to her scroll that actually working, when a sound of a man's terrified cry for help caught my ear.

"PLEASE NO! DON'T MAKE ME. NO!~"

' _Seriously Winter What the hell?'_ I forced my attention back the young receptionist and said.

"I'm here to see a patient. Mr Coal Schnee."

"Mr Schnee has been forbidden to have any visitors until he is deemed to be in a stable condition." The young receptionist replied without looking away from her scroll.

I slapped some paperwork on the desk which held a signed disclosure from the boy's father to visit him despite the procedures put in place to keep the boy secluded. Winter had gotten hold of the forms after a great deal of begging to her father, she gave them to me after she realised that she couldn't bear to see him in a place like this. She knew he needed help, but why had she come to me of all people. She had been under my command for just over a year now and in that time, she never asked me for anything, not even a day's vacation. When she asked me to help her brother I just couldn't say no to the woman. She looked desperate.

"This should cover everything." The receptionist put down her scroll and began to read through the papers. Having finally come to the end she handed me a visitor's badge and spoke again.

"Room 216. The doors will remain closed due to safety precautions and he won't be able to see you though the one-way mirror. But there is an intercom which the doctors use to speak to him. Not that the kid ever says anything."

I thanked her and made my way to the boys room, expecting to see more of an animal than a boy, if the screams that echoed the halls of the hospital was anything to go on.

But the sight I saw took me by surprise. Though the one-way glass I saw a boy sitting on the edge of the small thin mattress that the doctors would call a bed. The room was small and plain white, with only the small bed and a silver metal toilet. It looked more like a prison cell then a room. The boy didn't seem to care, he didn't seem to show any sort of emotion. He just sat, fingers interlocked and arms on his knees hunched over staring at the ground. The shoulder length dirty white hair hung over his face and covered his eyes.

"Mr. Schnee." I spoke through the intercom.

No answer

"My name is General James Ironwood."

Again no answer

"Your sister Winter has asked me to speak with you…"

Still no answer. The boy didn't even twitch at the sound of my voice. He seemed far to calm to be in a place like this… Or maybe that was the reason he was here.

"You don't care do you?" I noticed his hands twitch, and used that as my foundation to get to the boy. "You don't care that you're here, in this hell hole… Or rather, you think you belong here don't you?"

He didn't answer, but he did twitch again.

"Yes. Maybe you do belong here, but the question is why? To save yourself from your own weakness? Or to protect someone else from darkest strength?"

The boys hands clenched tightly.

"You're afraid of that strength, aren't you? Are you going to let that strength go to waste in here? Isn't there someone you want to see, someone you want to protect? Your twin sister Wiess perhaps?"

"Shut. Up." Finally the kid speaks, well more growled than spoke but still, it was progress.

"You cannot protect her from inside those walls. You should know that better than anyone, having lived with them for the last 6 months… Alone and forgotten about."

"We said. Shut. Up…"

' _We?'_ I pondered, maybe there is a good reason as to why he is here. "Is that what you want? Tell me Coal… What do you really want"

"We want strength… the strength to protect our sister… the strength to end the suffering in this world."

"Then let me train you." _'what am I saying. I never signed up for this.'_ "I can give you the strength you need to become the person you want to be, one who has taken the darkness that has plagued you the last 6 months and use it to protect the people you care about. So tell me kid. What do you want?"

"We want you to train us."

"Good. I'll have you discharged shortly." I turned away from the glass to make my way back to the front desk when I heard the boy speak again.

"There's one more thing…" I turned to once again face the boy and was taken back by what I saw. The boy had raised his head and despite the glass being only one way meaning that there was no possibly way he could see me or know where I was, he was looking directly into my eyes. I'll never forget the look in his eyes. His obsidian orbs seemed to absorb any hope and happiness in the world, there was no life behind those eyes, only wrath and fury. They truly were an endless void of darkness and despair. Winter was right, the boy needed help. He wasn't getting any here and his father was defiantly not the person who could help him either. I understood in that moment why Winter had come to me. Coal and I share a single similarity, we had both entered hell and survived.

"What?" I simply question. The evil smile the boy grew was dark and malicious, I had seen similar smiles before, on some of the worst serial killers the world has known.

"We want to kill Adam Taurus."


	9. Chapter 9

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! This will be my last update before the new year as I do have a family to satisfy.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter although I did struggle to write it. I hate the downtime segments and I wanted to get straight back into the story, this really is just setting the ground work for when the teams how some downtime or will be chilling out or whatever it is they will be doing so please bear with for it.

Also as my xmas gift to you I have officially opened to Poll for Coals pairing which can be voted for on my page so if you want to have your say get to voting. I have not included Wiess for OBVIOUS reasons and Nora will also not be in the poll as well come on who can really compare to Ren! Seriously!

I have also made a choice for you guys to vote for an OC if you want me to do that route but I haven't got anything planned for later chapters regarding that. And personally, I would prefer either Blake or Pyrrha for his pairing as well Blake would fit well into what I have planned and Pyrrha does have a one-sided crush on Coal if you haven't noticed already. To be fair she doesn't really know what it is yet either so let's see what you vote for.

* * *

Chapter 9: First Day of School

Coal sat in the classroom with his face resting on the desk in front of him. He had received his standard Beacon uniform and only wore the shirt and tie and left the jacket in his room. The formal attire made him itch and the tie seemed to choke him slightly, he couldn't wait for the day to be over so that he could remove the monkey suit and get back into his casual shirt and combat pants.

Coal wasn't in the best of moods either with being unable to get any sleep at all the night before. He was just beginning to fall asleep against the cold wood of his desk when both teams RWBY and JNPR ran into the classroom making enough noise to prevent him from actually dropping off. Well since he was awake he may as well crack a few jokes at his friends for being late.

"tut-tut-tut you just made it to class on time baby sis. What were you doing anyway? Making out with Jaune?" he teased with a tired shit eating grin.

"you look terrible Frosty did you get any sleep at all?" she asked, ignoring her brothers remark. Unlike Jaune who's face turned slightly red.

"didn't sleep well let's leave it at that" Wiess nodded in response as she sat down to her brothers left as her partner sat to her other side. The professor for the class walked into the room and stood in front of his new students. He was an older and quite porky fellow with grey hair and a huge moustache. This was professor Port.

"Monsters, Daemons…"

*THUD*

Wiess heard a loud thud sound come from either side of her. both her brother and her team leader had fallen asleep seconds into the first class of the semester. She still didn't know Ruby very well and since the girl had woke her up via a high-pitched whistle to the ear earlier that morning, one could say that Wiess was already ticked. She vowed to have a quite word with the younger girl to express that she needed to take this seriously otherwise someone would end up hurt. She expected this kind of thing from Coal. She was actually surprised he had attended the class to begin with.

As the professor droned on about something or other, Wiess had lost interest when he started telling questionably stories about his own adventures, she looked across to her still sleeping brother and breathed a small sigh of relief. She had been given quite the scare yesterday when she though that her twin would be kicked out of the Beacon having not found a partner but she realised that the role he had been given suited him quite well. He was always the kind of person to help people out whenever they needed it and knowing him, being able to rotate the people in his team meant that he could spend time with all his friends at the academy and help them through their own issues. Sometimes he was to thoughtful for his own good.

As she heard the professor ask the students if any of them thought of themselves as a true huntsman or huntress, Wiess remembered something that her twin had told her when she first started training four years ago when she asked him what it meant to be a hunter. _"you're asking the wrong person sis. To me, being called a huntsman is just a title. I don't do it for the title I just want to make sure that no one has to go through any pain or suffering. One day you'll understand why you became one too."_ Right now she knew she wasn't a true huntress. She had just followed her twin so that they could stay together. She didn't know what she would do if he left, she had relied on him so much during their childhood. Once she was able to stand on her own like him, she would then called herself a true huntress.

The rest of the class went by relatively quickly with none of the teens learning anything but how loud Coal and Ruby snore.

* * *

(Lunch Hall)

It was lunch time, much to Nora's enjoyment there were pancakes served for lunch, and the group of nine teen were sat around on of the tables. They had all opted to sit together and get to know one another due to the fact that they would most likely end up working together through team VOID. They figured it was best to know each others skills and personalities before heading into a fight. Having gone around and formally introduced themselves, all eyes fell on the twins as Yang had begun to question their relationship.

"So you to are actually twins?"

"for the millionth time lass, YES!" Coal exclaimed while eating a chicken leg.

"You actually have white hair, it's just dyed black?" ruby asked through a mouthful of cookies.

"Yes! For the last damn time!"

This had been going on since the introductions ended almost 15 minutes ago. The twins had taken a lot of questions from mainly Yang and Ruby. They had already met Pyrrha a couple of years prior so the Spartan didn't ask many questions. Ren was silent for the most part and only raised a question when he didn't understand something, he preferred to just listen. And Nora had only asked one questions: did the twins like pancakes?

Jaune had his own 20 questions for the twins, mainly since he saw the video of the male twin fighting in the forest. "So how come your able to make swords from nothing?" he asked.

Coal looked up to the blond who had just saved him from the pestering girl and answered his friend. "I can combine different types of dust I carry with my glyphs to do all sorts of things."

So, there's more to it than just making weapons?"

"Yeah, me and Wiess have the same semblance, it's a family thing before you question it, and we use glyphs to enhance and enchant our abilities. So long as the glyph is structured correctly pretty we can basically improve anything. Hell we can even summon Grimm we had defeated if we get good enough."

"You can summon Grimm to fight for you?" Jaune shouted a little too loudly.

"Yes its possible." Wiess answered while gesturing for him to keep his voice down. "I'm not strong enough to pull it off yet and I've never seen Coal try it before."

Coal felt all eyes on him, waiting for him to clarify why. "I don't like the idea of it. In my mind, to summon a monster I would have to become one first. So I just stick to enhancing anything else that my body can handle."

This prompted Yang to raise her eyebrows at the twins as she said with a sly smile "anything?" Coal answered her.

"nope cant improve that. Glyphs don't really affect anything that's living."

"you speaking from experience there?" Yang suggested. For some reason the whole group was suddenly interested in what Coal would say at this point. Except for Ruby she was just confused at what her sister was referring to.

"not me. Wiess doesn't like her flat che-"

*Bang*

"OW!"

Wiess had grabbed the back of her twins head and slammed it into his plate of food before he could finish what he was saying. Her cheeks red with either embarrassment or anger, no one could tell which. As Coal lifted his head back up he was met with a round of laughter from his friends, minus his sister who had her arms crossed and her back to him, and soon joined it with them. Wiess joined in after a moment having seen the funny side. She had been around Coal long enough to know that it was better to laugh then to hold a grudge.

After the group had finished laughing at the twins, it was Pyrrha's turn to question them. "So how come you both aren't attending Atlas?" the smiles on the twins faces immediately disappeared upon hearing the question. They took a quick look at each other before Wiess cast her gaze downward and started playing with the skirt of her dress.

Coal sighed before starting what was obviously going to be a difficult conversation. "it's a bit of a story but no point in hiding it. Basically, we came here because I'm no longer a Schnee… according to some document somewhere or whatever me and Wiess aren't related anymore."

This caught the group's attention and the all shifted their eyes towards the twins, even Blake looked over her book indicating that she was also listening. Coal continued and told what he told Yang back in the forest. About how he and his sister were going to be attending Atlas together until their father had refused his sister to go. About how he lost the duel and ended up with a hole in his shoulder from his father's sword and how he and his sister had gotten a place here from General Ironwood.

After the explanation Coal looked at the faces of his friends and they all held an expression of shock. None of them could understand how he could have been exiled from his home by simply standing up for his sister. They each put it down to the fact that the Schnee's were a high-class family and that was how they had always been.

It was Jaune who broke the silence. "so, what now?"

Coal turned to look at his sister who was still looking down at her feet clutching the hem of her skirt and softly spoke. "don't know… probably graduate here, kill a few hundred grimm, wipe out the White Fang and die peacefully in a fiery explosion… you know, life?" he got a few chuckles from the teens at his summary. He cast his eyes to Blake for a brief second to see her reaction when mentioning the White fang but she had her face hidden behind her book.

"so have you figured out a way to counteract your weakness" Pyrrha asked Coal in a means to bring the conversation back around again. She got a questioning look from her partner as he couldn't understand what she was referring to… the video they had all seen didn't seem to show that the boy had any weakness at all.

Coal's typical childish grin came back stronger than ever as he faced the Spartan with determination overflowing from his eyes. "of course I have lass! I haven't exactly perfected it yet but it should give you a fair amount of trouble."

"What weakness?" Jaune asked both Pyrrha and Coal not liking being in the dark.

Pyrrha answered him. "he may be strong with an estoc and that revolver but he will tend to only be able to strike from a small distance. If you get close enough to get past the length of the estoc then he is pretty much defenceless." Jaune made a understanding noise and nodded.

Coal didn't like the fact that she had just given out his biggest weakness but payed it little thought. As soon as he had perfected this new style of fighting he would be almost invincible. Or so he thought to himself.

Ren spoke up before anyone else could ask any more questions. "Come guys we have classes in a few minutes." The teens all got up and left for their next class.

* * *

The teens made it through the rest of the day's classes, with Coal having slept through them all, and were now sitting in Coal's room much to his confusion. During the day, the group had been getting to know each other to some degree and had decided among themselves, when Coal had been sleeping in one of the classes, that since he only needed one bed in his room that they would ditch the other three bed and make the rest of the room into a small common room for both teams.

The 9 teens had finished removing the beds when Wiess spotted a single luggage bag in the corner of the room. It was still closed and obviously had yet to be unpacked. "Why haven't you unpacked yet?" she asked her twin. The response she got was questionable, Coal had stiffened up and seemed to be trying to avoid answering his sister by fumbling his words. Wiess took it upon herself to get her brother settled into his new accommodation and unpack for him. The rest of the group had quickly realised that the girl was the more responsible of the two twins.

Wiess had thrown the suitcase on her brother's bed when the zip burst reviling what it contained… lots of beer. She instantly turned on her brother, face red with anger as she began shouting at him. "WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU ONLY PACKED BEER!"

Coal held his hands up defensively as he edged past the enraged girl to get to the suitcase. "Now Wiess calm down it's just a few cans…"

"A FEW CANS! YOU PACKED A CASE OF BEER YOU DOLT! YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO CUT DOWN!"

"well I did only pack half a case of beer…" Coal tried.

Wiess blinked confused. "only half a case?" she questioned. The case was brimming with cans of beer so what else was in there. Coal's eyes widened as he realised his mistake.

"yeah em, only half a case. I did promise you that I wouldn't drink as much." Coal said while sweating buckets silently praying that his sister wouldn't dive further into the case. The rest of the group were watching the show that was taking place with the siblings. Neither dared to look away in case they missed what was to happen, Yang had produced a bucked of popcorn form somewhere and was eating with a sly grin. She and Coal would definitely get along, not that she was a major drinker or anything but it would be nice to have a drinking buddy at the academy.

"what else is in there?" Wiess asked.

"nothing at all just half a case of beer and my underwear that I'm pretty sure none of these guys would want to see." He said trying to stop his sister from looking under the beer mountain.

But she did and Coal couldn't react in time to stop her. she reached under the cans of beer and pulled out a magazine… an adult themed magazine. Thankfully her back was turned so that the rest of the group couldn't see what she had held in her hand before she quickly replaced the book and quickly walked out the room with a crimson red face without saying a word.

Coal sighed in relief before he turned to the rest of his friends. "think I dodged a bullet there." As soon as he finished, Wiess came back into his room with rapier in hand and drove it deep into the case of beer and magazines, activating the red dust inside the chamber of her sword, burning it all to ashes.

"NOOOOOOO! ~" Coal cried falling to his knees while trying to reassemble some of the ashes of a magazine. "They were innocent… Well kind of innocent."

* * *

(Friday Evening – End of the First Week)

Wiess had just finished looking around the training facilities the academy campus had with her team, she was currently carrying a tray full of snacks and a bottle of water through the corridors of the dorms to her brother's room where she expected he would most likely be pulling another all-nighter planning some kind of mad scheme or studying.

She didn't bother knocking when she reached his door, she had learned a while ago that when Coal started working on something there was very little that would be able to interrupt him, which is why she brought the snacks. Food would always work and she figured that he could use a break since he had probably began working on whatever he was doing since both teams RWBY and JNPR left his room almost 4 hours ago. When she opened the door, she was met to an all to familiar sight to her, Coal was sat on the floor hunched over reading 3 books at a time, surrounded by tools and components for some kind of weapon or other. He hadn't even noticed that she had entered his room or that she had walked right up to him and placed the tray of snacks over one of his books.

"You should probably eat something if you're going to work through the night again." She told him with a small caring smile. Coal looked up and returned the smile with one of his own. He liked it when his sister tried to look after him and she was usually always right on time when he started to feel hungry.

"Thanks snow angel." He said as he started eating away at the plate of small sandwiches. "let me guess, you didn't make these."

"what makes you think that I didn't?"

"last time you tried to cook anything you set the sink on fire."

"hey! I was just a kid at the time!" Wiess scoffed as she puffed her cheeks like a small child, something Coal thought was cute as she had always done that when she was embarrassed about something. Coal couldn't help but laugh quietly at his sister who eventually joined in after remembering the incident. "so, what you researching this time?" Wiess questioned as she sat down next to her brother and picked up one of the books.

"I'm still looking into explosives and the properties of dust infused incendiary bombs."

"to use against Pyrrha?"

"Yeah… I can understand most of it but applying it to what I already have is a bit of an issue. I don't really want to carry round a bunch of grenades or a rocket launcher. Makes me too heavy and will slow me down." He informed. Wiess made a noise in understanding while she read over the book she picked up. It went into great detail of how different dust explosives were constructed and how they worked. After a few minutes of reading a thought came to her.

"Why not just use a glyph…" Coal stopped eating to look at her with confusion. Wiess showed him the section of the book she was reading which explained different types of landmines. "You said it yourself earlier today that glyphs can be constructed to do almost anything, so why not just make a glyph that acts like a landmine like it says here in the book."

Coal's eyes widened in realisation that his sister was onto something. Why hadn't he thought of that, it was brilliant. Sure it would put a lot of strain on his semblance and aura but if he could pull it off, it would be exactly what he needed to beat the Spartan. He embraced his sister in a crushing hug.

"Sis you are a genius!" he yelled as he released her and pushed the rest of the food away so that he could get access to the rest of his research material and continue working. Wiess rolled her eyes as she watched him indulge himself in one of his favourite pass times. Since he started training under the general, Coal had become obsessed with knowing all the information that he can get a hold of. He had read everything from Weapon blueprints to cook books. Sure there were fictional books and stories that he could read to [ass the time but he always preferred information.

As she continued to watch him she heard his scroll vibrate from the desk in the corner of the room and knowing that her brother either hadn't heard it was to indulged in his research to care about it, she got up to check it for him. It was a message from Ozpin, and he had a mission to give to team VOID.

* * *

(Headmaster's office)

"Seriously Grey I've been here one week and you're already sending me out." Coal was annoyed to say the least. Having just gotten a brilliant idea from his sister to perfect a few styles of fighting, he then gets called into the headmaster's office to be given a mission on his first week as a student. "it's like 10 pm man!"

"I know you're not happy about it but with huntsman being such spread so thin the mission has been referred to the more capable students at Beacon. This is why you have been selected."

"Fine just give me the details… I take it that the general told you how I like to get my mission briefings." Coal asked raising an eyebrow.

Ozpin chuckled having already been told and handed the boy a paper file containing the mission details rather than transfer the details over the boys scroll. "Take your time while you read it. Once your satisfied I will need to know who you plan on taking with you."

Coal didn't answer. He read through the documents with great speed, flicking though each page of the briefing to get every last bit of detail before he closed the file, pulled out a small vile of red burn dust and lit the paper on fire. Burning it to ashes.

"I want Pyrrha Nikos, Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna."

Ozpin raised a questionable eyebrow, he had expected him to select Pyrrha but his other two choices confused the headmaster. He had expected the boy to take his sister along with him having known her skills and fighting style. "And why have you selected those three?" He questioned.

"I know how Pyrrha fights, she is without doubt the strongest out of them all, maybe even stronger than me. She is the obvious choice. Ruby is the youngest and probably has the least combat experience among the group because of her age. She is also way to innocent for this line of work, I intend to change that or at least give her a glimpse of just how dark a life like this can be," Coal informed the headmaster.

Ozpin was satisfied so far but still requested the reason for the 3rd member. "And Ms Belladonna?"

Ozpin noticed the expression on the boys smile change slightly, his normal smile had shifted into a more sinister, evil smirk. ' _So James, you were right to be cautious.'_ He thought to himself.

"Just a hunch." Was the only answer Coal gave before returning to his room.

As soon as he returned to his room he found his sister sleeping on his bed. Wiess had been waiting for him to return from his briefing with the headmaster this whole time and the thought of it made the boy smile slightly. He sat down on the floor and leant against the side of the bed and pulled out his scroll to send a message to his current team: _Gear up. Tomorrow morning, we leave on a mission. Details will be given during the journey to the mission location. Bring something warm._ It didn't take Coal long to fall asleep against the side of his bed.


	10. Chapter 10

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

So, i had some spare time and decided to upload a new chapter. do be warned there will be a lot of Blake and Coal interacting in the mission but it will be solely for the purpose of story not that im confirming their pairing or anything yet. WHICH I STILL WANT YOU GUYS TO VOTE ON BTW!

and can i just give a big shout out to you guys that continuously support the story by reviewing, following and favoriting this. i mean seriously guys thank you so much!

As an auther i do have two requests for you readers though: if any of you know a beta reader that could help me out with checking over chapters for me could ya get them to pm me or something... mine kinda bailed on me and im in desprate need of a new one. also if any of you can draw id like to request if someone can do some artwork for the fic featuring Coal's design. id do it myself except im limited to stickmen and dicks :P

Enough rambling now! Please enjoy

* * *

Chapter 10: Operation Hide and Seek – Part 1

When Wiess woke up the first thing she realised was that she wasn't in her own bed, or her own room for that fact. She had fallen asleep waiting for Coal to return from his briefing with Ozpin and had slept quite well using his bed. Weiss sat up and rubbed some of the sleep from her eyes when she heard her brother speak up.

"Sleep well Baby sis?" Coal Chucked from somewhere, her eyes still had yet to adjust to the darkness in the room. It must have still been early in the morning.

"what time is it?" She groaned

"around half four in the morning." Coal stated. Wiess' eyes had finally adjusted and she could see him sat in the middle of his room fully geared up and ready for his mission. He wore his frost white trench coat over his silver tee-shirt and black combat pants with black combat boots. He had a single strap black backpack slung over his right shoulder which covered the Schnee crest on his back and his headset rested around his neck. She could also see the black gauntlet which he used to store and eject dust on his right forearm which also meant that he had his ammo bag attached to his lower back. He was currently cleaning his revolver, Forgotten Sins, with his back to her and the sight filled her with a calm sense of tranquillity. He was only ever calm when he had a job or a mission to complete. "… While I'm gone?"

"what?"

"I said, are you going to be alright when I'm gone?"

"I'll be fine. You just be careful ok."

Coal stood having finished cleaning his gun and embraced his twin in a warm hug which she returned. "You do remember that I promised you years ago that I'd always come back right." He said softly before releasing his sister and walking out the door. Neither one saying a proper goodbye.

* * *

(outside the airship)

"He said to meet at 6am, he's late!" A frustrated scythe wielder yelled.

"Calm down Ruby I'm sure he has his reasons." Pyrrha said as she tried to come up with a reason for the team leader's lateness. It was almost half past six and he had still yet to show up…

"Yeah Ruby chill ya beans lass, I have my reasons." Ruby and Pyrrha turned a full 180 to see Coal leaning against the door of the airship, with his typical childish grin and gave the boy a mixture of confused and pissed off glares having somehow appeared behind them.

Blake, who had arrived with Ruby, didn't bother to look at the boy. She seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him at all times. Maybe the gun to the head shook her more than Coal initially thought, he would need to fix that if he was going to get any information form the girl and use her to get to her lover. "I got a little lost on the way down, if it wasn't for some rabbit Faunus I probably would still be lost." The three girls made their way past the boy to take their place on the airship groaning about his lack of sense of direction to get the mission started.

Coal put a hand on Blake's shoulder to keep her back for a moment longer. "Look." He started, Blake still didn't make any eye contact, in fact she kept facing forward, not acknowledging the one who almost took her life. "I'm sorry about what happened in the forest, there's no point making excuses because there is none that I can give that will make you feel better." He removed his hand and left it hanging in front of her offering a handshake to the girl. "Think we can start over?" He asked with a soft smile.

Blake looked at the hand that he offered and after a brief moment of thought, looked into the boy's obsidian eyes for the first time since the forest. "So that's why you selected me for this mission." She more stated then asked. She continued walking and took her own place on the airship leaving the team leader alone with his thoughts. Little did she know that when she left, Coal's smile morphed into an evil smirk.

* * *

Coal had made some space in the middle of the lounge area of the airship so that he could brief his team about the mission they were going on. The girls sat in front of him on the sofa while he stood on the opposite side of a small coffee table. He handed each one of them a paper file which he had made himself earlier that morning containing the details of the mission and each member's roles during the course of the assignment. Each file came with the name of the person it was made for.

"OK so, those files contain the basics of the mission and your given roles, but I'll explain everything as simply as I can." He rolled out a map of a mountainous area which contained a diagram of a small town. "3 days ago the town of Frostpoint located on a small island between Vale and Atlas was invaded by a large quantity of Grimm. The towns folk evacuated but they have reported that there were some people who were left behind in the confusion. 6 people to be exact. One of which is the mayor's daughter. We are to locate and extract the missing survivors and bring them to Vale where a refugee camp has been set up. The island is basically one big mountain and the town is located halfway up its main face. Due to heavy storms the airship cannot take us all the way to the town so we are going to be dropped at its base and will have to walk the rest of the way, this will take us almost half a day to reach the town entrance and from there, we will have 24 hours to search the town for the missing survivors. Once they are all accounted for, alive or dead, we will make our way back down to the mountain to the airship where the survivors will be dropped at the camp. Are we all clear so far."

Coal got nods of affirmative from the girls and a raise of a hand from the youngest member indicating she had a question. "Is that why you said to bring something warm?"

"Yes. The snow storms that the island gets are apparently quite ruff. Why they built a town there is beyond me and I really don't care in all honesty, probably thought it would be safer from Grimm or something. Anyone else got something to ask?" When he got no further questions, he continued his briefing.

"The files you have been given contain the details of the missing six which you will need to familiarise yourselves with as once this ship lands, those files will be burned and destroyed. As for when we enter the town, we will be going in through the south entrance and doing a full circle through the town in two separate pairs. Ruby and Pyrrha will take the west side and circle around clockwise while Blake and I will take the east and take a anti clockwise motion. We will meet at the north entrance to the town where will take refuge inside one of the bigger buildings and hunker down for the night. We will then continue on in the morning double checking the other pair's side if we haven't found everyone. Clear?"

The girls nodded again and, now satisfied that his team knew what they were getting into, turned to face Ruby. "Come with me."

Ruby followed silently wondering what he wanted but they stopped in the corridor outside the lounge area, Coal made sure that the door remained open for reasons Ruby didn't understand. He took out his revolver and handed it to the young girl who now had a confused look and walked about 10ft away from the girl. "Take that gun and shot at me." Was all Coal said as he turned to face her once more.

Ruby was confused but obligated anyway. She raised the gun slightly and shot at the ground next to him, who didn't even flinch at the shot. "Good." He said. "Now. Shoot to kill."

"W-what?" Ruby spluttered.

"I said, Shoot to kill. That's an order."

Ruby raised the gun once more and aimed for Coal's head. She was confused and worried about why he had just asked her to shoot at her in the first place and now he was asking her to try and kill him. No one could dodge a shot from this range and he didn't have any kind of defensive shield or anything. She knew he had aura but that didn't make it easier. She had never aimed to kill a person before. Killing Grimm was different to this.

Ruby shot after a minute of internal debate and the bullet flew past the boy's face just grazing the skin of his check, leaving him with a small scratch that spouted a small trickle of blood. He hadn't activated his aura. Ruby's eyes widened at the realisation that she almost killed him. She heard him speak to her again but it didn't really break her out of her stunned stance.

"You missed. I said to shoot to kill." His face was dark and emotionless. Ruby couldn't recognise the child like teen she had come to think of as a friend. She couldn't kill him. She doubted she couldn't kill anyone. She started to doubt that she could even be a huntress.

Coal watched as she held the gun up once more and aimed for his head a second time, her entire body began to shake as she debated about pulling the trigger, she had been given an order from her team leader after all and she always followed the leaders instructions. Seconds turned into minutes before Ruby lowered her arm and looked away from the boy, tears forming round her eyes.

"I cant." Was all she was able to say, it was barely audible but Coal had heard her.

Ruby didn't register that Coal had slipped the gun from her hands as she let the tears fall. She couldn't do it. Why had he put her in that position and ordered her to take a shot that would kill him? Was he trying to prove just how weak she was?

"You didn't take the shot this time. But someone will put you in that position again. When you are forced to make a choice between ending someone's life and sparing it, will you be able to take the shot? Your still young Ruby, so remember that no matter what choice you make, if you kill a person or spare them, will you be able to live with that choice? It doesn't matter about orders, it will always be your choice that decides when one's life ends." Ruby felt a hand on her head which cause her to look up at the boy standing in front of her, the cut she had made having healed meaning he had reactivated his aura. He had a soft smile on his face and Ruby instantly knew from the look in his eyes that he knew what he was talking about. That he had already needed to make that choice before… That he was living with his choice.

Just inside the door way to the lounge, Blake and Pyrrha had witnessed the whole display and had different thoughts about the situation. Pyrrha held a soft smile while thinking that despite his odd way of going about it, he managed to pass the message along to the youngest of the students in the school that being a huntress was more than just fighting Grimm. She inwardly cursed when she realised that her rival might have actually taken a life at some point but quickly let it slide because he was right in what he was trying to get across. Even though you sometimes don't have a choice in the matter.

Blake on the other hand had a completely different mindset. She was disgusted that the boy had brought up such a horrible subject and ordered a 15-year-old girl to shoot at him as if trying to end his life. What if Ruby had actually shot when he had his aura down and how would she be able to live with herself? But the more she thought about it, Blake came to realise that Coal was not wrong in his statement. Her scouting missions with the White Fang had led to countless deaths and while she had not taken those lives personally, she had to live with blood on her hands. She couldn't help but wonder if Coal's words were just as much for her as they were for Ruby.

Coal brought each one of them from their thoughts by announcing in a loud voice. "Okay everyone go get changed into whatever warm clothing you have and read up on the missing persons. Be ready for when we land as from that point, we don't not stop until we find every one of those people and return to the ship."

* * *

(Town of Frostpoint)

Team VOID had been walking along the mountain trail for a few hours now and where almost at the village. Coal still had his normal attire, he had the coat lined with both fire and ice dust and he was born a Schnee, he didn't feel the cold to much despite the snowy terrain and the small blizzard that had started halfway up the mountain side. Ruby had a slightly thicker cloak with a black fur hood and a black turtleneck jumper over her regular clothes. Pyrrha had a similar jacket to Coal's however, hers matched her red sash around her waist, she also opted to wear a set of thermals under her armour. Blake… didn't bring any thicker clothing. The further the group went the colder it got and it was almost mid-afternoon by the time they reached the town of Frostpoint. Needless to say, she was freezing, but was still hiding it quite well.

Before Coal gave the order for the team to split up, Ruby and Pyrrha going left while he and Blake went right. They had encountered very few Grimm on the accent to the town but now that they were in an identified Grimm infestation he reminded the team just before they split. "This is search and rescue, not extermination. Make sure you make it back alive. That is your main priority." He then reached into his backpack and pulled out 4 cans of beer and held them out for each member to take. Reluctant at first each girl eventually took a can each and gave the boy a confused look. "Keep these with you. Once we all make it back to the ship this is our reward."

Ruby looked even more confused at the explanation as she questioned. "You remember I'm only 15, right?"

Coal gave a loud laugh before answering the girl. "2 years older than me when I started and I had Ironwood as a mentor. One of the guys on our squad used to do something similar but with a six pack of beer rather than a single one… When he retired, I took up the tradition." After the girls stored away the beers with mixed opinions, Coal's expression grew serious. "You know your jobs. Now go!"

* * *

Coal and Blake had been searching the east side of the town for about an hour before the happened upon on of the missing persons… Dead. Coal was examining the body while talking through his scroll to an officer at the refugee camp to inform them of this person they had found. "Body is too mangled to get a solid ID, but I'll scan his prints and send them along. There isn't much left to bring back… I'm sorry."

"Don't be, just get the prints along and we will inform the next of kin." He heard the officer say. Coal didn't reply, he only ended the call and scanned the finger prints on the body. He was lucky to even get a scan at all considering the state the body was in. There was no way of knowing whether it was male or female.

Blake had neglected to approach the body, they had really only found it because of her enhanced senses and she could smell the decaying body from a fair distance despite the worsening storm. She had pretended to stumble on the body and called upon her partner to take over after nearly vomiting at the sight of the mangled corpse in the snow. She was too cold to really want to get involved anyway, she had been shivering since they reached the town and due to the storm getting continuously worse and now that it was starting to get dark, she was only getting colder. She silently regretted defying her leaders instructions to bring warmer clothing.

Being a Faunus she had enhanced senses, so when she felt a warm weight on her shoulders from behind her she jumped a little having been surprised and rounded to see a now jacketless Coal with a soft smile. "You looked cold." Was all he said before turning to walk away his voice only barely audible over the wind.

"What about you?" Blake didn't even realise she had asked when she saw Coal look over his shoulder at her, still with that soft smile.

"I don't feel the cold. And before you make a sarcastic remark about it being related to my cold heart, I suggest we keep moving before the storm gets too bad. We need to make it to the half way point and regroup with Ruby and Pyrrha." Coal continued to walk away from Blake who was now sliding her arms though the sleeves of his coat. She had wanted to make the sarcastic comment at his cold heart, but if he was so cold hearted he wouldn't have gave her his coat. It was warm after all and she did need it if she was going to make it through the mission.

She quickly jogged after him to catch up and walk alongside him, the first time since they had been dropped off, so that she could question him about the body they had found. "Did they find out who it was?"

"Yeah… Sapphire Shade, 20-year-old female, she was an only child. Her parents made it out though, according to the message from the officer. I've already sent a message to the others to mark her off the list." Blake nodded and they continued to walk in silence. Until Coal broke it. "It's weird."

"What's weird?" Blake questioned turning to look at him.

"This area is supposed to be infested with Grimm but we haven't seen a single one since we entered the town." Blake's eyes widened at his words, he was right. They had yet to see a single grim since they had arrived, she couldn't help but wonder if Ruby and Pyrrha were having the same amount of luck. "Ruby." She heard Coal say, he had his scroll open and had made a call to their teammate. "Report."

"We have found 2 survivors so far… Both dead, I'll send you a message once their fingerprints have revealed their identities. That's about it."

"Grimm activity?"

"Erm well… We haven't actually seen any."

"Don't sound to disappointed. Keep moving and report in when you reach the rendezvous point."

"Okey dokey." Coal ended the call and the pair continued on deeper into the town.

* * *

They were about 15 minutes out from the meet up location when they heard a high-pitched scream coming from one of the larger buildings from the street across from them. They both sprinted to the sound of the childlike scream.

As soon as they rounded the corner into the next street they saw 3 Ursi chasing a small girl who looked about 6 years old, the Grimm were closing in fast. Coal reacted first and drew his revolver and fired 3 quick rounds of wind enhanced bullets which tore through each beast, enough to slow them down and draw their attention but not enough to kill them instantly. He then parted from Blake, who had run towards the girl and was now standing between her and the Grimm with weapons drawn. Coal ran off to the side down the street firing as he went to keep the attention of the Grimm focused on him. He didn't need to say it, Blake had taken it upon herself to protect the girl. Something he didn't expect her to do of her own accord. The girl was obviously human and if he could tell from this distance, then the Faunus girl must have noticed too.

"I'll keep them distracted!" He shouted to his partner as she picked up the girl and headed off in the opposite direction. Coal had ran about 5 streets down before he finally decided that it was far enough to know that the girls were safe from these Grimm. As soon as he rounded to face the Grimm his smirk dropped… "Ah shit." He cursed, weren't there meant to be 3 Grimm following him, not just 2.

Blake had been running the whole time while carrying the screaming girl. The sounds of the high-pitched cries hurting her sensitive ears but she played it no mind, she was to focused on out running the Grimm that had decided that they were more appealing than the boy who had shot at it. The only reason why it had yet to catch up with the 2 girls was that Coal had hit the Grimm in one of its legs slowing it down.

Blake's sole focus was to keep the girl safe; even if it cost her, her own life. She had no idea how she was going to take down the creature while carrying the child so for now all she could do was run.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" a familiar voice shouted. Blake looked over her shoulder to see Coal falling from the sky with one leg outstretched to kick the Grimm, as soon as he connected with the back of the Grimm's head the beast crashed forward landing in the snow with a loud thud as Coal rolled forward to absorb the impact from the fall, stopping a few meters from Blake's position.

"Sorry." He said as he pointed his gun behind him and double tapped the beast in the head executing it. "Wrong franchise."

Blake simply rolled her eyes, not even noticing that she was now smiling at him. It was small and barely noticeable but it was a smile none the less. "So, she does smile." Coal beamed. Blake instantly reverted back to her standard deadpan expression and set the girl down.

Coal made a split decision that rather than continue on the would make camp one of the buildings close by and let the kid rest up. The child looked rattled and could barely stand on her own so she clung onto Blake's leg while they walked further down the street to find suitable accommodation. While they walked Coal had contacted the other pair to let them know that they had found a survivor and were making a change of plans, rather than meet up they would find a place to rest up for the night now and start fresh in the morning. Something Ruby had agreed to quickly, she and Pyrrha had encountered a large hoard of Grimm after the first report and were beyond exhausted after the fight. The weather was also slowing down progress and they doubted that they would make it to the meeting point anyway.

Coal had picked the lock on one of the larger houses on the corner of the street. It was bigger and seemed more robust than the rest so it made to most sense to him to hold up there for the night. The group took refuge in the master bedroom in the upstairs of the house and the child of the group, for once not Coal Blake mussed, had taken the bed and was attempting to get warm and settle down to get some sleep. Coal and Blake stood at the doorway to the bedroom having a quiet discussion amongst themselves.

"I'll take first watch, the lass seems to have grown attached to you with her clinging to you on the way here so she might settle easier with you around,"

"You sure? You have just fought 3 Ursa aren't you tired? And what happened to the 2 that chased you?"

"I'll be fine, I need the exercise so I'm taking first watch. There dissolving somewhere in the snow, they were smaller than normal Ursa so weren't too difficult. Besides don't you recognise her?"

"Yeah, she's the Mayor's daughter."

"Exactly, so keeping her calm and sane is the best thing to do here. Your probably not going to like it but you may actually have to have a conversation with her." All Coal got as a response was an unamused glare from the Faunus. "Chill lass it was just a joke. I'm taking first watch that's final."

"Ok but I'll take over in 4 hours."

"If that's what you want." Coal said as he departed to begin his watch, he had opted to do a quick perimeter check to make sure that they wouldn't be disturbed during the night and leave Blake alone with her thoughts.

After Coal had disappeared into the blizzard, Blake looked back to the restless child on the king-sized bed. She hated the fact that a child had been dragged into such a horror show yet she was still thankful that the girl was alive. She moved over to the side of the bed and sat down, watching the young girl as she tried to get comfortable. The girl had long black hair much like her own and her eyes matched the colour of her hair almost perfectly. If anyone saw the girls together they would probably mistake them for sisters.

When the girl rolled over to look her in the eyes Blake saw something that she never expected, despite all that had happened in the last few days to the town and having almost been killed by Grimm the girl's eyes showed only humour and a childlike excitement… Blake realised that she had seen those eyes once before, Coal had given her the same look when he joked about her smiling. "Your pretty." The girl giggled. Blake's eyes widened slightly, did this girl not remember what had just happened.

"umm… Thanks?"

"Thank you for saving me. I'm Ebony"

"Blake" The two girls exchanged a quick handshake before the now named Ebony spoke again.

"Who was your boyfriend?" Blake's expression darkened… there was no way this girl could know about Adam… "You know the boy who saved us before." Blake let out a deep sigh, she meant Coal. She praised the child's innocence and returned a soft smile to the girl as she answered.

"He isn't my boyfriend. He is the leader if the team that I'm on."

"But he saved our lives, like a knight from the stories daddy reads me." Blake didn't want to start an argument with a small child about the meaning of love so she shrugged her shoulders. Ebony started giggling and shuffled along making room for Blake to sit fully on the bed. Once Blake repositioned, Ebony took her chance and used the older girls lap as a pillow and instantly drifted off to sleep. Blake followed about 30 minutes later after playing with the younger girl's hair a little bit. Before she fell asleep Blake couldn't help but feel slightly envious of Coal for having a sister.


	11. Chapter 11

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

HAPPY NEW YEAR MOTHER FUCKERS! Welcome to 2017! Good luck to ya all for this year after everything that happened in 2016 we will all need it.

So here's the next instalment to this fic which has been one of my favourites to write so far. So I hope you all enjoy it. I hope this chapter will give you a lot more insight into just how insane Coal can be and just how quickly he can change between the caring and childlike big brother figure to well… I'll let you guys see for yaselves. BTW I'm not sure if any of you will understand the word Bairn, if not then it basically is another word for a child. Sometimes I forget which words are common English due to me language. Which is why I'm still in desperate need of a beta reader.

Also I still need Votes on Coals pairing. At the time of this A/N Blake and Ruby are tied! A few of you have mentioned in either pm or review that you could choose Pyrrha and while that's nice and all I'm solely going off the poll result. So get voting guys!

I still don't own RWBY I'm really getting tired of saying this.

* * *

Chapter 11: Operation Hide and Seek – Part 2

Coal was busy on his perimeter check which was almost over. The weather had calmed down some during the night but there was still a chilling wind. His scroll buzzed, in incoming call from Pyrrha.

"Sup Pyrrha?"

"Hey Coal, are you safe?"

"Yah, Blake and the bairn are hold up in one of the bigger houses here and there doesn't seem to be any Grimm around. The storm is probably keeping them at bay."

"Good… that's em, good that they are safe."

"What's up Pyrrha? You sound concerned about something."

"It's Ruby… she's been asking questions about you this whole time. She thinks you've killed someone before and I really don't know what to tell her. I think I understand why you did what you did back on the airship but I just… I just need to hear it from you first hand."

Coal let out a long sigh, of course Ruby would ask questions. She was far too young to be here but it was the best experience for her. if she could come out of this with a stronger mindset then she would make a great leader. "I put her in that position because she will be forced into it at some point or another. She is young, still older than me when I took my first life but still young. She needed to know that right now she can't kill and that right now, no one is forcing her or asking her to. Yes, I did order her to but she needed to recognise that orders can be disobeyed if it goes against what someone believes… Maybe not being able to kill makes her more headstrong than me." There was no answer for a few seconds, Coal wondered if the call was dropped due to the storm which was getting worse, even he was starting to feel a slight chill.

"How many?"

"Pyrrha you don't want to know the answer to th-"

"How many Coal?" She yelled.

Coal let a few more seconds pass as he debated about answering the girl. He had quickly learned from a young age that there was almost no point in lying to a woman, they always knew when you lied. At this point he had two options; reveal the number of lives has taken or not answer her at all.

He sighed. "Four…"

Another long pause before. "I don't know if that's more than or less than what I had expected."

Coal laughed lightly trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah well let's hope that." He stopped when he felt something sharp press into his back, not hard enough to break skin, but enough to make him uncomfortable. "I'm going to have to call you back." He didn't hear Pyrrha's reply as he had hung up on the girl. He didn't turn around to see who was attempting to threaten him. "So, what's the plan here then? Mug me and take off in an attempt to escape this place."

"No one escapes this place." A low gravely voice spoke. "We are all going to die here." The blade pressed harder into his back.

"You sound like your suffering…" Coal said quietly.

 _ **Kill him**_

"Let me help you." Coal continued in an attempt to defuse the situation and before the headaches got any worse. The blade eased slightly and Coal was able to turn and meet the gaze of the person who had threatened him. A pair of cold and distant, icy blue eyes that looked a lot like his sisters looked back at him. The man had a Mohawk of black hair and Coal recognised him as one of the missing townsfolk. "Your name is Jet right? Let me take you somewhere safe."

"NO! there is nowhere safe from Grimm, from the darkness. I watched as my wife and child died to those fucking creatures and now I've lost the last place I can call home. There is nowhere to run too. We will all die!"

Coal let out another sigh. He had seen the look in this man's eyes before. Back at the mental asylum, it was the look of someone who couldn't be saved. Someone who didn't want to be saved.

 _ **End his suffering**_

Coal turned quickly and slapped the hand which held the small kitchen knife away, taking a few quick hops back to create some distance. He needed to get back to the house and switch with Blake in a few minutes so he couldn't waste any time with this guy.

* * *

Blake woke up from the alarm that she had set on her scroll to wake her up after 4 hours in case Coal had neglected to wake her to switch watch duties. Which he hadn't. Luckily the alarm was quiet enough to not wake the still sleeping Ebony who was still resting on her lap. Blake couldn't help but smile softly at the sight, was this what it felt like to have a little sister? After carefully shifting the young girl to be able to move, Blake exited to room and closed the door, confident the girl would be ok for a few minutes while she located Coal.

After trying to call him several times she decided that it would be easier to look around for him from one of the windows. It didn't take her long to spot him, he was fighting one of the survivors from the town. Blake jumped out the window and made to assist him when the fight had moved down one of the alleyways, she rounded the corner and drew her weapon ready to help the boy when she saw that Coal had force the man to his knees with his gun to the man's head. They were talking…

"Your suffering, there are people who can help you with that." Coal said softly, Blake couldn't see his face so she couldn't tell his expression.

"No… I don't want that…" the man replied. "You know what I am talking about when I say that those people cannot save lives like ours. It's in your eyes you know. We are the same."

Moments past before Coal spoke once more, she head pain behind his voice. A pain that spoke volumes to her. That he didn't want to say what he was saying but he needed to. "I know."

The man yelled as he tried to lunge at the boy again, only for the barrel of the gun to press against his forehead.

*BANG*

Blake watched in horror as the man's kneeling form fell forward, lifeless. Coal had just ended his life. Before she even realised it, she was now standing right behind him with her own gun pointing at the back of his head. Ready to end his like he had back in the Emerald Forest.

"You going to threaten me too?" Coal asked not even needing to turn around to know that it was the White Fang's Black Cat holding the gun to his head. His voice carrying almost no emotion behind it.

"You KILLED him!"

"I know… I ended his suffering."

"You _murdered_ him!"

Coal turned to face her slowly and when their eyes met, Blake saw only pain and sorrow. She still kept the gun pointed at his head while she continued. "He was human, he was alive and you took that away from him. Why?" she growled.

"Because he asked me too… Because we were the same. And for a long time… I wanted the same thing." He grabbed Blake's gun and pressed it hard against his forehead. "What do you see Blake? A monster? A human? A person? If you're going to kill me then do it." His voice was emotionless, his eyes filled with sorrow and pain. Blake could only stare as she held the gun to his head, desperately trying to talk herself out of wanting to end his life also. Her arm began to tremble and he continued to speak to her. "Like I told Ruby, when the time comes you must make a choice… Can you live with the choices that you've made?" He released the grip on the gun and took a step back, holding both arms out to his sides showing that he had no intention to fight back, as if he would merely accept whatever choice she made. Blake stood trembling as she held her aim to his head. Part of her wanted to pull the trigger, but that was the part of her that she wanted rid of. It was the part of her that Adam desired from her, the side she would never let out. She dropped her arm. "I am not a killer. If you desire to die, do it yourself."

"Like I said, I did at one point… Before I found a way to live with my sins. We are similar Blake, we both have a darkness inside of us that made us do things we regret. Its why you came to Beacon isn't it?" he asked softly.

"You don't know me." Blake Growled though closed teeth.

"No I don't. But I could and I could help you. I have learned a thing or two about fighting your inner daemons."

"How can I trust a murderer!" she shouted back. "Your no different from HIM!"

"Him?" Coal questioned. Blake's eyes widened upon realising what she had just said. She had just compared Coal to her ex and while they were both killers she knew that she was wrong in doing so. She froze up on the spot and tried to explain herself before Coal beat her too it. "Your running…"

Coal had realised that in that brief moment she had just compared him to her lover Adam and while that pissed him off, the look in her eyes said it all. She hated the loss of life and she was desperate to escape that life. She was in a dark pit of despair with no way of coming out while trying to escape her past… just like he was. She wasn't at Beacon to scout for the White Fang like he initially thought, she was here to hide from them.

He was annoyed that he had not even thought of the idea that she was trying to leave the White Fang and he was about to manipulate her into getting him closer to them… there was no way he could do that now; her pained expression was too much for him to look at so he just averted his gaze and spoke in the softest and most apologetic tone he could muster. "I'm sorry." He walked pasted her quickly, heading for their accommodation to sleep away his emotions. Blake stood for a few moments longer, confused by how he knew that she was running from her past before beginning her shift of watch duty.

* * *

Blake's shift was uneventful, despite her only half paying attention. She was still thinking about what she saw during the night. The conversation she had with Coal played over and over in her head and the more she watched it, the more she came to see that he spoke from experience. At some point in his life he had suffered greatly and had come out stronger because of it. But she could see that he was still fractured, that part of his soul was still broken and that he was still searching for the cure. Just like she was.

She realised that they shared a common goal, to be free of their past.

Blake had only wanted freedom for the Faunus populous, she never wanted people to get hurt much less die for that freedom. when Adam set out to change the White Fang she had followed him for the simple reason of a childish crush. Yes she had a great relationship with him for some time but the longer the White Fang operated under his command the more she grew to hate them. She needed to get out and Beacon was her only safe haven for now.

She forgot that she was still wearing his coat when the sun came up. The storm had passed during the night and the air was a lot warmer than it had been when she walked through the door of the house that they had made camp in. as she walked up the stairs she spotted Coal coming out the bathroom drying his hair and face with a towel… he was also shirtless.

" _What do you see Blake? A monster? A human? A person?"_ she remembered him saying as she surveyed the claw shaped scars on his torso. They only proved that he had suffered…

"What?" He questioned as he noticed her staring at him funny. He spoke softly like he was trying not to provoke her.

"Why did you kill him?" she asked him. She needed to hear his reason now that the situation had calmed down.

"Rick Glacier."

"What?" She asked, not recognising the name.

"His name was Rick Glacier… And I told you why, he was suffering."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Blake snapped. "He could have sought after help, gone to see a physiatrist or a doctor, there is always someone to help."

Coal cast his eyes downward and responded quietly. "Maybe… But in that moment, he wouldn't stop until one of us was dead. When your pushed so far back against the wall, a primeval urge to survive takes over. In his mind, it was kill or be killed." He looked into Blake's eyes as he said, "He was right though. In that moment we were the same…"

There was a long moment of eerie silence before Coal spoke again in a much calmer tone.

"I spoke to Ruby earlier. They found the last survivor last night while Pyrrha was on watch. The guy I killed last night had no family that survived the initial raid and was a bit of a loner according to the contact at the refugee camp. His finger prints also matched to someone in the criminal data base… He was a murderer on the run and apparently thought that this island was far enough out the way that he wouldn't be found. We're heading back down the mountain and regrouping at the airship. The storm cleared up so it should be easy going from here."

Blake mumbled an affirmative before setting off to find Ebony and make sure she was ready for the trek down the mountain. She heard Coal let out a deep sigh before speaking again "By the way… why was Ebony asking if I'm your knight in shining armour?" Blake didn't need to look to know that he had his typical childish grin back on his face. Somehow he also made her smile slightly. If there was one thing she could count on him to do, it was to bring about the best of a situation. Though his humour did get on her nerves slightly.

* * *

They had set off only a short while ago but because of the clear skies they were making much better progress then yesterday's storm. Blake's mind continued to race with thoughts about what she saw last night and the conversations she had with her partner, both after the incident and the morning after. She didn't know what to feel at this moment, they had managed to find a wanted murder but was it right to execute him on the spot. She couldn't help but agree with what Coal had done at the same time, they couldn't risk bring a wanted murder along with them. Though the boy didn't know who the man really was at the time. She really couldn't decide how to feel on the matter.

Blake still had Coal's coat after she had once again forgotten to give it back, but he didn't seem to mind as he walked beside her with the young, energetic child riding on his shoulders. Ebony was bouncing along with the two hunters while playing a game of I-spy with her mount.

"Windows." Ebony tried.

"Nope." Coal said for maybe the tenth time this round.

"Weapons."

"Nope."

"Waffles."

"You've said that 3 times now, nope."

"Blake." The child cried. "Help." She begged giving the Faunus girl her best puppy dog eyes while trying to hide a grin.

Blake rolled her eyes before speaking for the first time since the game started about 20 minutes ago. "Water." She said pointing to a puddle of melted snow.

"And she gets it in one. Your bad at this Ebony." Coal teased getting a pout and a cross of the arms glare from the girl on his shoulders. "Come on Blake why not give us one?"

"Yeah Blake, Play with us!" Ebony asked with new found enthusiasm. Blake rolled her eyes at the two, honestly she couldn't tell who had the higher mental age at the moment. At least this was better than what she saw last night and it was distracting her from her thoughts.

"Fine… F" she said. Earning a pout from her teammate.

"Come on Blake do it properly."

"Ugh… I spy with my little eye something beginning with F."

Ebony tried first. "Flowers!"

"Nope."

"Fish." She tried again

"Nope." Where was this girl getting these idea on the side of the mountain Blake questioned internally.

"Waffles!" Ebony announced as if it was to most obvious thing in the world

"Doesn't even start with the same letter." Blake giggled. The child's innocence and oblivious nature to the fact that they were still in a supposed Grimm infested town was a funny sight, something that she realised she needed as it was brightening up the whole mission.

There was a long pause when the girl didn't answer. She was looking around trying to figure out what it could possibly be and just when Blake was beginning to think that she had won the game, Coal spoke for the first time that round.

"Faunus." He said without breaking stride. Blake stopped in her tracks. He knew about that… But how? She never got to question him as the youngest member of the trio tapped her mount's head and questioned.

"What's a faunass?"

"It's pronounced Faunus lassie. They are like humans but have animalistic traits. Think of it like this." Coal said as he looked up to the confused girl. "Imagine if you or me had a wolf's tail or cat ears or something like that. Then we would be known as Faunus."

Blake had caught up just as Coal had finished he quick explanation to the girl. She had expected something a bit more offensive but he spoke as if being a Faunus was actually quite amusing. Ebony seemed to agree as Blake noticed a sparkle in the girls eyes.

"So, if I was a Faunus I would have the cutest fluffy fox ears ever?" she asked with amusement.

"Yeah basically. I take it you think that you would be a fox Faunus if given the chance?" Coal asked with his usually childish grin.

"Yeah foxes are so cute! What about you Coal?"

"I'd have a wolf's tail, that would be epic." Blake looked at the boy with a mixture of confusion, surprise and relief. He thought that having a tail would be… Epic?

"That would be so CUTE!" Ebony gushed at the mental image of the boy with a bushy black tail. "Your tail would be so fluffy and soft and you would be called Mr. Fluffles!"

Blake couldn't help but let out a laugh at the look on Coals face. He looked genuinely hurt at being called cute, she never thought than an insult would actually make him speechless but the child had unintentionally shut down the childish prankster of Beacon, something even Yang had not been able to do during the first week of school. Blake would remember that little detail for later.

Coal eventually righted himself before starting a playful argument with the child which lasted the rest of the walk to the town's south entrance… where a pack of 8 Ursi were waiting. Ducking into an alleyway Coal let the child down and told her to wait for them in this spot while the take care of the monsters. Ebony nodded before running to hide behind one of the many trashcans.

Coal and Blake jumped up to the roof of the nearest building planned a brief formation for them to use to take out the Grimm. "You think you can handle the frontlines if I pick off any stragglers?" Blake nodded. "Ok then I'll get as close as I can on the roof tops and take pot shots at the ones you can separate from the group. Wait for my signal to engage."

"What signal?"

"You'll know it when you see it." Coal smirked as he slipped on his headset and jumped from rooftop to rooftop, as stealthily as he could, to ambush the pack.

[Battle music: You Me at Six – Bite My Tongue]

Coal position himself above the pack of Grimm and drew his revolver aiming it at the centre of the pack and shot an explosive round, the fireball exploded causing the 2 closet Grimm to be engulfed in the flames while the rest got knocked onto the ground just as he planned. Before he could get off another shot a blur of black hair zipped into view and stabbed one of the beasts through the chest right where its heart would be if it had one, instantly killing it.

With 3 down and 5 to go Blake dodged an incoming swipe from one of the creatures using her semblance to phase away from the attack and reposition herself to the monster's flank where she landed an exotic combo of attacks, slashing away at the Ursa's side before she heard a low roar of pain from behind her.

Coal took aim again after taking down the Grimm that was Closing in on Blake's rear, a quick headshot with a wind enhanced bullet was enough to break through it's bone mask and kill the beast instantly. He watched as the remaining four Grimm began to make a circle around the Faunus while she was fluently flipping and slashing at them all using her chain scythe. Sure her swords were short but they did plenty of damage as the Grimm were slashed and cut deeply from the hurricane generated by the single blade. He couldn't let her have all the fun and jumped off the building landing on the shoulders of one of the Ursa, grabbing onto its ears and steered it towards one of its pack. The mount began to wildly swing its arm in an attempt to his its hijacker only to drive its claws into the side of its companion that Coal executed from his seat on the Grimm's shoulders with a quick doubly tap.

Blake had seen Coal out the corner of her eye as he took control of one Grimm and took out another and turned her focus on the other two of the pack. She drove her folded bladed into the chest of one of the ursa and using her natural agility and reflexes, pulled herself towards the beast using the ribbon attached to the weapon and slid through the beast's legs while slashing the legs of the beast with her second blade. When she stood from her slid, Blake used every bit of strength that her arms carried to pull on the ribbon again, slicing the monster in two halves and catching the blade and shooting the remaining Grimm as it charged at her in a frenzy. She dodged the beast using her semblance once more and as the beast tackled her clone, she appeared above the beast in the air and thrust both her blades into its neck in a cross pattern. She slowly removed her blades from the Grimm and turned to help the child that she had been partnered with for the mission… and he was riding the ursa like it was a bull. Literally.

Coal was holding on to the scruff of the monsters neck with one hand as it bucked and span trying to force the boy off its back, he was having fun and Coal wished once more that he had a hat to fit the image. Eventually remember that he was supposed to be doing a job he flipped over the Grimm's head while still holding onto its fluffy neck and slammed the beast into the ground with enough force to create some cracks in the cobblestone road. Once more ending a creature of darkness' life with a double tap, executioner style.

Blake could only roll her eyes at the boy as he walked back over exclaiming that Grimm were amazing forms of entertainment in the right hands. They both walked back to where they had hidden the girl who had remained in her hiding place the whole time. Ebony jumped up and embraced Blake in a hug burring her head into the girl's waist as that was the height difference between the two.

"I'm so happy you're ok." She cried. Blake's eyes widened at the girls actions and after a moment of internal debate, she began to stroke the girls hair in an attempt to calm her down.

Coal stood and watched as the Faunus interacted with the human. Since he had confirmed that Blake was Black Cat he had been planning on ways to manipulate her into giving up her boss and lover, but looking at the girl now, he wasn't sure if they were the same person. Black Cat had never actually killed anyone herself, she was only a scout and as his brain rattled for an answer to the many questions he now had there was one thing he knew for certain. Blake Belladonna was not a bad person… she was simply lost in her own darkness like he had been a few years ago and, though he would never admit it, if it wasn't for Ironwood he wouldn't have come as far as he had. Maybe he didn't need to manipulate Blake into giving up details of the White Fang. Maybe she would help him take them down on her own accord if he could help her with her own issues. An, I scratch your back if you scratch mine kind of deal.

Coal was shaken from his thoughts at the sound of footsteps, Pyrrha and Ruby were walking towards them with a 3rd person in tow, a middle aged bald man who seemed to be limping slightly.

"Report." Coal said to the new comers as Blake still attempted to calm down the young girl.

"Few small packs of Grimm and one survivor." Was Pyrrha's simple report. There really want much else to report on.

"Okay, let's get moving again. We need to get to the base of the mountain before it gets dark again so we may as well use the break in the storm to our advantage."

The group nodded and made their way to the entrance to the town while Coal kneeled down to be eye level with the still crying girl. "Wanna ride on my shoulders again Ebony?" he asked with a soft smile. Ebony looked to the side to meet his gaze, still with a few tears in her eyes as she sniffed up some of the snot running from her nose. She nodded slowly and made her way over to Coal who gently picked her up and placed her back to where she sat earlier. Standing upright himself he gave a quick nod to Blake who was quite thankful for taking care of the crying child and they both made their way after their friends.


	12. Chapter 12

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

So i completed this chapter early and after some major alteration i have decided to upload it slightly earlier. Unfortunately due to some Family stuff i may not be uploading till later next week so i do apologise for that but please understand that this is rather personal and i would really appreciate some time to handle it.

Thank you guys so much for all the reviews and praise you are giving this story i mean seriously guys thank you so much. it makes me want to write this more and more and i want to make this as interesting as possible for you so i have included a lot more detail into Coals past in this one. Yes to all your theories, He is flipping mental.

Poll is still up for Coal's pairing so if you haven't voted then get to it already. i did promise to do it on the poll.

oh one last thing, i swear this is the last thing. Who should i pair Jaune with? ive actually already drafted many different scenarios and ideas about who and how he could end up with but i want your guys opinion on it. dont worry though, all the romance-y type crap will be fore purely story development... although i may dedicate a single chapter to a date scene between Coal and is Poll winner. but thats a draft for another day.

I still dont own RWBY, i only own Coal and i guess now Ebony.

* * *

Chapter 12: Operation Hide and Seek – Part 3

"GO, GO, GO!" Coal shouted to the party as they ran down the mountain trail that lead to their airship. He spun on his heel and drew Forgotten Sins and unloaded a full chamber of fire enhanced explosive rounds into the army of Grimm that was chasing them down the mountain side at great speed. There were too many for the explosions to do a great deal of damage to the mass of Grimm so he turned again to run for the air ship that should be ready for a quick getaway.

"Where the hell did these guys come from?" he shouted as he fired behind him as he ran, more explosions erupted around the mountain but did nothing to slow down the army of darkness.

* * *

(10 Minutes earlier – Mountain trail)

"Red!" Ebony said atop Coal's shoulders.

"Nope." Coal answered.

"Waffles!"

"Seriously kid you have an addiction" Coal chuckled

"what's a dicks-shin?"

"how does she turn your words around like that?" Blake said from Coal's left as she looked up to them both.

"I don't know where she gets it from, but it's going to be the death of me for sure."

"What is dick-shin?" Ebony asked once more slightly louder as she tapped her mount on the head like it was a drum.

The three walked at the front of the group and behind them followed a very confused Ruby, Pyrrha with very well hidden jealousy and the still limping survivor.

Ruby couldn't understand what she was seeing. Yesterday the guy had asked her to basically kill him and here he was joking on with the girl who was actively trying to avoid him at all times and a child that probably had a higher mental age than him most of the time. She was happy that he and Blake were finally getting along but the sight was just too weird. What had happened between the two to have such a comfortable understanding between one another.?

Pyrrha just glared at the back of Blake's head. She had no idea why she was so jealous of the girl but she had given up trying to deny to herself that she was feeling this way. Because of the way they were acting, any passers-by, not that there would be any, would probably think that they were a family of some sorts. It didn't help that the child did kind of look like them both with the black hair and eyes. The sight made her think about what would happen if she and Coal had an offspring and how they would look like, until she realised that that was a stupid thought and would never happen and that she shouldn't be thinking about those kind of this andthathewasn'tthattypeofguyandthat… Well the list was endless.

"Hey Coal, what you listening to?" Ebony asked. Coal removed the headset from around his neck and let the girl put it over her own head so that she could listen to the current song being played: 3 Doors Down – Here Without You. "Oh I love this song!" She announced as she began to sing along to the lyrics.

"Well that should keep her occupied till we get back down." Coal chucked at his distraction.

"I didn't think you had any music taste." Pyrrha quipped from behind having recognised the song from the singing girl. Coal looked over his shoulder to face the Spartan with a playful grin.

"I'm surprised you realised what song this is Pyrrha. Didn't you tell me you went through a bit of a goth stage when you were younger and had a lot of heavy metal albums."

Pyrrha's cheeks matched the colour of her hair. "You promised not to tell anyone about that!" She shouted.

"I can't help it if people are eavesdropping on our conversation. It's not like I'm showing them the pictures of you during that stage." He said shrugging. He sent a quick wink to Blake who rolled her eyes at him for his antics.

"You were a Goth?" Ruby questioned from the girls side.

"COAL I SWEAR THAT I WILL-"

The group stopped at the noise of continuous rolling thunder echoing around them. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky so they had no idea what could be causing it until Ruby had the incentive to turn around.

"Hey guys… we should run. Like right now!" she said as she began to back way.

The rest of the group turned around and instantly regretted doing so considering what they saw… Hundreds of black specs racing down the mountainside heading straight for them...

Coal was able to shake the group from their stunned stance when he let out a quick. "well shit. Run for it!" no one argued with him.

Coal shifted the girl from his shoulders and into his arms and carried her bridle style to make it easier to run. As the group descended he looked back to see the limping man falling behind, he grabbed Blake's attention and they both stopped. He handed her the girl in his arms and drew his gun and face the oncoming army. "get down the mountain and tell the pilot to be ready for a quick getaway I'll do what I can to hold them off."

"don't be stupid what can you do against that many Grimm!" Blake shouted at him.

"Buy you enough time to get to the airship." He pointed to the headset on the girls head. "I'll be back for that." He pointed his gun at the army as Blake turned to leave.

"GO, GO, GO!" Coal shouted to the party as they ran down the mountain trail that lead to their airship. He spun on his heel and drew Forgotten Sins and unloaded a full chamber of fire enhanced explosive rounds into the army of Grimm that was chasing them down the mountain side at great speed. There were too many for the explosions to do a great deal of damage to the mass of Grimm so he turned again to run for the air ship that should be ready for a quick getaway.

"Where the hell did these guys come from?" he shouted as he fired behind him as he ran, more explosions erupted around the mountain but did nothing to slow down the army of darkness.

'shit, shit, shit! I need to slow them down.' He thought to himself as he ran. He didn't have enough ammo to take on a whole army of Grimm and he doubted he would survive even if he tried. 'Damn it! I'm gonna have to use you aren't I?'

 _ **Kill them all**_

"AHH… FUCK IT!" he shouted as he skidded to a halt, closing his eyes and focusing all his energy into one of his fathers _"gifts"_ he had left on the boy's back, he reared his right hand back before slamming it into the ground, creating a large frost white glyph which glowed under the boy's feet roughly 20ft in diameter. From the ground rose a large white snake, it continued to grow in size as more of its body rose out of the glyph and cut off the direct path to the rest of the group. It was almost double the size of the a normal King Taijitu.

Coal stood on top of his summoned ancient King Taijitu's head with his eyes still closed, his summoned creature had glowing cobalt blue eyes which scanned the oncoming army with a ravenous hunger. It had been a while since it was last summoned. Coal had only used this beast once before and that was to save his squad on one of the mission he had been on last year with the general. He hated having to use this power, it made him feel like a monster.

Coal's eyes shot open to reveal a pair of glowing cobalt blue eyes with the same hunger as his summoned monster. He created a new glyph under his feet, a one used for time dilation. Once activated he felt time slow down slightly and scanned the oncoming army of Grimm briefly before raising his gun and unloading it into the mass of blackness. The bullets flew in slow motion giving him time to reload before they had even reached the Grimm and he unloaded the gun once more before time caught up with itself.

Pyrrha turned as she reached the ship to see a mass of fiery red explosions and a massive white snake in front of it with her rival standing on top of his head. She could have sworn that she saw a faint blue glow under the back of the boys shirt. He turned as slid down the back of the snake and made a break for the airship at the base of the mountain while the summoned creature blocked as many Grimm as it could. However despite its size it didn't last for more than a few minutes.

It was enough though as when Coal reached the airship its was powered up and ready to take off he ran up the ramp and quickly pressed the button to raise the ramp and shut to door. His eyes reverting to their normal colour before anyone got a chance to see them. " Get this bucket in the air now!" was all he was able to say before a major pain rushed through his head causing him to pass out in front of the rest of his team and the two survivors.

* * *

" _Father please!"_

" _It's for your own good son."_

" _Please I don't want this!"_

" _You are a failure! I need you to be powerful!"_

" _You belong here. With the rest of the psychos."_

" _It's your fault I'm here you bastard!"_

" _No… it's your own."_

" _you did this to me! You and your damned experiments!"_

" _You always were a failure and now you're no more than a monster."_

* * *

Coal woke with a start and instantly sat up from his position coming out of the memories. His eyes darted around to ensure that he wasn't back in the white room of the mental hospital that his father had left him in. He gripped his head as he tried to force the pain to die down but knew it wouldn't be enough to get rid of it. He would kill for a drink right now…

 _ **How long do you think you can keep ignoring me?**_

"Shut up." Coal whispered to himself.

 _ **I've missed our long chats, Coal**_

"I said shut up!"

"You okay?" a voice next to him asked. He turned to see Ruby sitting in a chair beside his bed, she must have been waiting for him to wake up. _'Damn it, did she hear me?'_ He inwardly panicked as he tried to wipe away the cold sweat from his forehead. Looking around once more, actually taking the time to learn where he was, he seemed to be in some sort of medical tent. "You collapsed when you got on the airship. You've been out for almost 3 hours." She must not have heard him.

"Well… That makes it one of the shorter ones I guess." Coal muttered as he averted his gaze from the younger girl. Ruby gave him a confused look before asking him something that had been playing her mind since she saw it.

"I thought you said that you couldn't summon. How did you do that and how was it so big?"

Coal let out a sigh and neglected to twist the younger girls words into an innuendo, she wouldn't understand the joke anyway. He turned his gaze away from the girl and looked down at his hands. His left remained perfectly steady while his right twitched and shook nervously. He knew it wasn't because of the wound on his right side, it was purely a match between fear and restraint... Something that he developed during Ironwoods therapy sessions.

"I never said I couldn't… I just don't like to. Remember, I said that to summon monsters wont I have to become one?" When Ruby nodded in understanding he continued. "I can only summon monsters I defeat… I got that one about a year ago, on a mission with the Atlas Military… General Ironwood commanded the hunt himself but we ended up losing a lot more people for it to be called a successful mission. I got the killing blow, giving me access to the things summon."

The air was filled with a long uneasy silence after that. For what felt like hours to Coal, he wondered if the girl beside him would now truly see him as a monster. Pyrrha probably told her about the number of lives he had taken which had only increased since.

Eventually Ruby started digging around her own bag looking for something. She produced the can of beer that Coal had given her at the start of the mission and the one he kept for himself and handed him one. "I hope you don't mind but I got this from your bag… You have a tradition to keep up remember." Coal looked at the girl with hopeful eyes. Did she really not care about any of that? Or was she just looking past that. She had just sent a quick message on her scroll, Presumably to let Blake and Pyrrha know that he was awake, and looked back into his obsidian eyes. "Your living with the choices you've made, aren't you?"

Coal smile softly to the girl, she had understood his message. "Yeah." Was all he was able to get out as the other two girls came into the medical tent and stood at the other side of his bed, each had a can of beer in their hand. Coal pulled the tab on his beer as did the rest of his first team and held it up to make a quick toast. "Well done team VOID."

Pyrrha giggled as she knocked her can against his own. "Short and sweet."

Blake instantly saw the change in the boy's smile at the girl's words, she could tell that he was about to make a sly comment about her words however she noticed that his eyes still seemed rather distant and lacked their usual playfulness in moments like these. She knocked her own can against the two, interrupting the boy before he could make some sort of comment. "Don't give him any ammo. He's bad enough as it is."

Ruby jumped up the stand with the rest of the girls and clanged her can against the groups with a huge smile. She hadn't expected to find out that the childish teen in front of her had taken so many lives at such a young age but the memory of her journey here kept replaying in her mind. She realised that in a way he was right, that if she ever did chose to kill that she would have to live with that choice. Or if she chose to spare the life of an adversary would she be able to live knowing that she let someone go who would possibly kill innocents. She had been given a lot to think about.

Each member of the team took a gulp of the liquid and the three girls each retched at the taste.

"Bitter!" they all said at the same time, while Coal just continued to drink.

"If you're not going to finish those I'll take 'em."

Blake raise an eyebrow at the boys obvious drinking problem. "Are you at least going to put a shirt on first?" Coal looked down at his bare chest. Yep he was topless, thankfully he was covered quite modestly with a new set of bandages, presumably he shoulder had opened up again during his time unconscious. Yet he didn't blush or show any signs of embarrassment.

"You know your all enjoying the view." He teased with his usual grin, though the girls noticed that it didn't reach his eyes.

Ruby hid under her hood.

Pyrrha's cheeks turned crimson as she tried to make some sort of excuse for starting at his chest.

Blake just rolled her eyes and averted her gaze.

"COAL!" A small, energetic bundle of black hair jumped onto his bed crushing the boy under the weight of it. Ebony had jumped up and hugged herself into her saviour with tears in her eyes. Coal was wondering if she had actually been worried about him considering her actions.

"Sup bonny lass." He said softly as he stroked the girl's hair softly, letting her cry into his chest. He had gotten used to this kind of situation with his twin sister Wiess so he just sat and let her do what she needed to do in order for her to feel better. Only letting his presence be enough to ensure her that he was still here and very much alive.

"Mr. Coal?" A deep gruff voice spoke from the tents entrance. Coal looked up to see a middle aged man with jet black hair much like the girls and dull almost lifeless black eyes. This man was the girl's father, the mayor of now deserted Frostpoint. The man walked over to stand at the boy's bed beside Ruby who had shifted over slightly to make room for him and extended a fat hand to the boy. "You have my thanks for saving my daughter."

Coal took accepted the handshake with his free hand that wasn't stroking the crying girls hair. Her father eventually coxed the girl to release the boy and stand next to her father at the side of the bed. She still had a few tears left in her eyes but she was obviously feeling better now that Coal was awake. "She's grown attached to you."

Coal shrugged his shoulders. "She's fun to be around. Might want to take a look into her waffle addiction though."

"Ah." The mayor laughed. "So that's what she meant by dick-shin." This got a laugh from the rest of the group and a confused look from the little girl who still didn't understand what the word meant.

* * *

(Airship – Returning to Beacon)

Coal sat alone in the back of the airship. He had been quiet since team VOID has said their goodbyes to the little girl and her father and left the camp. He had pushed both Blake and Ruby away when they tried to cox him into sitting with them and bring him out of his gloomy state. Now it was Pyrrha's turn.

She sat down next time him and placed his coat down next to him, which she had gotten off Blake who had 'conveniently' forgotten to return it. "You okay?" she asked softly. Coal didn't answer her, he just studied the ground under his feet with his arms resting on his knees hunched over. The length of his black hair covering his eyes. She tried again. "Coal?" still nothing. "What's on your mind?" she placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to bring him around. He mustn't have realised she had been sitting next to him considering he jumped when contact was made, he still kept his head down as he spoke in an emotionless tone.

"I'm fine Pyrrha."

"No, you're not!" she almost yelled. "What happened to the fun and laid-back Coal that beat me in the Mistral tournaments? Because I don't see him anywhere."

Coal finally looked up to her, his eyes were tired and only showed pain. "I hate summoning." he whispered after a long moment of silence.

"Care to elaborate."

Coal released a long and almost growl like breath that he had been keeping in. "The first time I summoned was the first time I killed… that was 5 years ago. I killed 2 members of the white fang after they hurt me and then tried to hurt my sister." He took a deep breath before he continued. "Afterwards I was sent to an insane asylum where my father left me to rot alone for 6 months before Ironwood got me out and trained me how to stay calm. Whilst he simultaneously taught me to shoot."

"That happened when you were only a kid?" Pyrrha clarified softly. She got a nod from Coal and immediately tried to take the subject away from the obvious sensitive issue. "I thought summoning was a very complicated technique, so how come you were able to do it at such a young age?" she questioned hoping to brighten the boy's mood by complementing him on his strength.

"On my 10th birthday my father started taking me on hunts for Grimm. He also started training me how to summon, which I never really got the hang of… He got pissed off quickly and decided that, 'he needed me to be powerful', is how he said it." Coal looked her dead in the eyes as he revealed one of his biggest secrets. He knew he could trust Pyrrha with this, she was bound to find out eventually anyway due to how close she was with his sister. "He implanted me with dust in the form of a basic summoning glyph into my back in an attempt to enhance my ability to summon, to make me as powerful as he desired... Not that it didn't work right away. It still took me nearly 2 years later to be able to make my first summon. By that point he had already tried numerus other experiments to 'improve' me." He turned away and lifted the back of his shirt so that Pyrrha could see the scars that covered it. She almost that they looked like claw marks, they were wild and random and she was confused as to what he meant by them. If those were surgical scars shouldn't they me more precise and a lot smaller? After a moment, his back started to glow a faint blue, a glyph like symbol appeared underneath the scared layer of skin. It died down almost instantly as Coal replaced the shirt over his back and turned back to her. "Because of it I'm constantly connected to the creatures I can summon. When they are out it's like I'm seeing though their eyes at the same time as I am mine. I feel their hate, fury and bloodlust… I may as well be one of them."

" _I don't like the idea of it. In my mind, to summon a monster I would have to become one first."_

"That's what you meant…" Pyrrha said softly as she remembered what he had said during their first day as students. She had no words to say that would make him feel better. He had been experimented on from such a young age, all because he wasn't able to do something that he was most likely too young to learn. What kind of parent would do that to their child for the simple reason of power. Pyrrha slid her arms around the boy, embracing him in a tight hug which he slowly returned. "Who else knows about it?"

Coal buried he face into her shoulder. "Other than my farther, only General Ironwood and now you. This curse gave me the power to protect my sister, but it hurts so much… I'm terrified of it... Of the monster." He managed to choke out. Pyrrha felt him shaking as he buried his head into her shoulder. She figured that he had kept it bottled up for so long that the pain had eventually drove him crazy enough to be put into the hands of psychiatrists. All because of a man who desired power. Yet it was that power that allowed him to protect his twin, he hated to power he had been given yet had used it to protect her and kill those that would dare hurt her.

" _I don't like the idea of it. In my mind, to summon a monster I would have to become one first."_

Pyrrha kept replaying the memory in her mind as she spoke to him as calmly as she could in an attempt to reassure the boy. "If you ever need to vent I'll be here. If you ever need to talk, I'll be there to listen. I know you won't burden Wiess with this so whenever you need something, come to me ok? Even if you just need a punching bag." she tried adding the last part as an attempt to bring about is more childlike humour, eventually she felt him nod slowly from her shoulder.

Blake stood at the doorway hidden behind the wall next to it having heard the whole conversation.

(1 hour later)

Coal had calmed down some and was now sitting alone after asking Pyrrha for some space. The only reason she had left was because he was coming back around and was starting to make some stupid jokes again so she knew he would be fine and left him like he asked.

Blake took this opportunity to approach him with only one question of her own. "How did you know?" she asked knowing that there was no one nearby to hear what she had asked.

"Know what?" He looked up at her with a confused look. Blake crossed her arms before giving him a deadly stare daring him to lie to her.

"About me being a Faunus." Coal took out his scroll and motioned for her to sit down next to him. Once she did he handed her the device which was playing the video file of the train robbery with herself and her ex. Blake's eyes widened at the video, sure it was difficult to tell that it was really her in the video but he had made the connection… that means he also knew about the white fang, didn't he also say earlier that he had once killed two of its members.

"Got that from the general the day we got assigned our teams. It also doesn't help that your bow will twitch every now and then and that you eat way too much tuna for it to be deemed healthy. You look good in that by the way." His usually playful tone was back. Something that she never thought she would miss.

"I can explain!" Blake instantly said, having handed him the scroll back and averted her gaze.

Coal softly locked her chin between his finger and thumb and turned her head back so that he could look her in the eyes. "No need lass, I realised that you're not really here on behalf of them. Are you?"

"No. I-"

"Save it." He said before deleting the video of the robbery, making sure that Blake saw him do so. "So long as you're not a part of them, I don't care. Besides I think we are even now that we've both held a gun to one another's heads with intent to kill." He joked.

"But…" Blake started, she stopped herself before revealing that she had listened in on his early conversation with Pyrrha and how the White Fang had tried to hurt his sister resulting in him taking his first two lives. Did he really have to have his face that close?

"I. Don't. Care. You're not a part of them anymore right?" He got a nod and released her chin so that she felt less awkward. "Then what else is there? Yeah, the White Fang are pricks and I may have a few personal issues with them, but we worked well together. All I need to know is that when it comes down to it, will you side with us at Beacon or with them, when we do eventually face off?" His tone was direct and serious, Blake knew she couldn't lie to him now.

"My team in my new family. Beacon is my new home." She said with no hint of a lie.

Coal smiled softly at the girl sitting next to him and extended a hand, much like he did before they set off on the mission. "So, can we start over now?"

Blake smiled back and this time accepted the handshake. "Blake Belladonna." She reintroduced herself much to the boy's amusement.

"Coal Smith."

"Smith?" Blake questioned raising an eyebrow.

"What you don't like it? I need a full name considering I'm not Coal Schnee anymore. I'm open to ideas." He mused to the Faunus.

Blake pretended to ponder for a moment before looking directly into his rekindled playful eyes, silently thanking Pyrrha for being able to bring him out his depression. "I like the sound of Coal Fluffles." She teased remembering Ebony's take on his name if he was to be a Faunus. If she was ever going to get the chance for an open dig into the childish joker she would have to take every chance she would get.

Coals smile turning into a frown, although the amusement never left his eyes as he spoke in a serious yet joking manner. "We will never speak of that name again, Kitten."

He got a slap upside the head for that one.

Deciding that he needed some air he left the girl and was walking through the hallways of the airship when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in one of the windows. Staring back at him was a mirror image of himself with glowing blue eyes much like his summoned Grimm. His reflection was also drenched in crimson blood. Coal had always been told that he did not suit the colour red, but after seeing the cloak of blood on his reflection for the last 5 years, he had come to get used to it.

* * *

A/N

what a second A/N?

Basically here im going to give you guys a chance to name Coal. He does need a full name after all and im tired of him not having one so heres your chance. PM or review your option of name and ill select the one i like the most and give its creator a shout out.

SEE YA SOON DOYLEMS


	13. Chapter 13

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

I'm back and returning in full form!

I apologise for those of you who were expecting a cannon chapter but this is once again more filler. I had originally planned for this chapter to go straight back into cannon but I really hate time skips. In the Anime, it basically goes from a few days a Beacon to Glynda saying it's been weeks now which I didn't really understand and I have a very, very petty hate of time skips. I don't mind short ones but a figured a month worth of missed interaction was going to be too much.

Here are a few brief short stories that will take place during the first month of the twins' time at Beacon. Yes, this may be filler but it will all come around in the main plot line as this chapter does contain a lot of character interaction between Coal and the rest of them. Something I think this story has been lacking in points. I just want to make a point that everything that I write is for a purpose and everything has a meaning. I've got a friend who is studying phycology who is helping me with some of Coals personality issues.

Also, the poll for Coals pairing will be ending on the release for chapter 16 so that I can start writing it in. not that this will become a romancy kind of fic, I just feel as though the pairing will be one of the main reasons behind Coal's need to become a more stable person. It's all for character and story development.

Also, a huge shout out to Lelouch of Zero for suggesting the perfect surname for Coal which I have already found the perfect place to give it to him. I'll be giving you another shout out when that chapter comes up buddy! Never thought that the perfect name would come around so fast. So, that may be a few chapters away dude. Sorry.

Please enjoy!

I still don't own RWBY.

* * *

Chapter 13: School Days

[Coal and Ruby – It's Also a Bomb]

"What about this?" Ruby asked holding up a new gauntlet design to a coal black eyed teen.

"No! That is basically a cannon attached to my arm. I just need a small nozzle to eject dust, like the one I currently use." Coal replied having, for the fourth time that day, rejected one of Ruby's designs.

"Ugh your impossible!"

"It doesn't have to be fancy. I just need something which can switch between dust cartridges and eject the fire dust in a small burst rather than a light stream like I use for ice forging. That way I can add it to glyphs." He explained. He and Ruby were sat inside the library of Beacon academy surrounded by books and gauntlet designs Ruby had offered to help the boy who was struggling to adapt his current gauntlet to accommodate the new dust chamber. Ruby had suggested that it would be more beneficial to remake the entire gauntlet from scratch and took it upon herself to design the weapon / armour piece.

"But wouldn't that leave you with only one type of landmine?" Ruby countered, "I mean what if you need a bigger explosion or even a smaller explosion for some reason?"

"Err. I didn't think of that."

"You sure can be single minded."

"Hey!" Coal yelled earning a glare from the old librarian at the front desk. Lowering his voice he continued. "I'm good at storing information not creating it." Not telling Ruby just how multiple minded he really was.

"That's why you have me." The red theme girl beamed. Honestly, Coal couldn't help but admit that the younger girl couldn't be anything other than cute. Even when she was twirling around with her scythe. "But if it's going to be too much of a problem then why not just use two different port for the different types of dust. That way you can adjust the amount you need using two separate valves and could even use both at the same time if necessary."

Coal pondered for a moment as he absorbed what the younger girl had said. When it came to weapons she was defiantly an expert so he trusted what she was talking about. True he had developed his gauntlet to forge swords at the touch of a button, but if what Ruby was suggesting about combining the blades with a touch of fire dust, and what his sister had said about landmines…

"Ruby you are a genius!" he proclaimed earning a smile from his assistant. "Is there any way to make it more compact as well, like Yang's Ember Cilica?"

"I'll see if she still has her old designs that we can borrow." Ruby said excitedly before disappearing in a burst or rose petals.

(Several Days Later)

Having borrowed some designs from Yang, Coal stood outside a small abandoned warehouse outside the city of Vale with his newly made gauntlet equipped on his right arm. The gauntlet looked very similar to Yang's although rather than yellow, his gauntlet was coal black with a single white stripe running down the middle of it. Unfortunately, due to the amount of dust storage the boy had wanted, he and Ruby couldn't get the gauntlet to revert into a smaller, more pedestrian form so it remained a static piece of metal. Ruby had joked earlier in the day that the amount of dust stored in the piece armour could level Beacon academy itself. Something she had to force Coal into not testing out.

"Okay let's give this baby a shot!" Coal said as he stepped inside the warehouse, pulling on his black glove which immediately illuminated the dust infused glyph upon the back of the leather due to coming in contact with the boy's aura.

"You sure this is going to work?" Ruby questioned as she readied her scythe, Crescent Rose.

"I'm about sixty two percent sure that this is going to work out as planned, but one hundred percent sure that it will be fun!" He said as he moving into a fighting stance, one which Ruby had seen her partner do many times. He stood as if he was eying her down the tip of his blade that wasn't really there, much like his sister would do before dashing into a fight. Ruby couldn't help but think that despite the obvious openings he left there wasn't much of a chance she could land a hit on him.

As Coal got comfortable in the position, he activated both chambers in the gauntlet and ice forged an estoc while adding a small amount of fire dust which he made sure not to activate by mistake. The blade he had forged was almost perfectly constructed. The 52-inch frost white blade was pointing directly at Ruby yet it had a single strip of red running down the very centre of the blade, only visible due to the blade itself being made of ice. The hilt of the sword was also frost white which curved very slightly away from the grip and pommel of the sword, which were also frost white and constructed of pure ice. The pommel was very basic in design however also held a form of beauty due to how smoothly it had been crafted.

"Ready… GO!"

(10 minutes later)

"Seriously Coal, how much dust did you put into that blade?" Ruby yelled at him pointing at the raging inferno in front of the two teens that used to be the warehouse.

"Barely any! Holy shit I didn't mean to blow up the place!" Hey yelled back trying to call the fire services to be able to put of the fire that he had unintentionally caused. During his sparing match with Ruby, Coal had stuck his blade into the ground in the middle of the warehouse in order to practice switching out between blades like he normally would during a fight. After leaving the sword stuck in the ground, he backed away and activated the fire dust stored in the centre of the blade using a glyph causing it to explode in a massive fireball… One large enough to engulf the entire warehouse in the red flames.

"Well, all in all that was a successful test." Ruby piped up with a smile as if they hadn't just levelled a building. "Wouldn't you agree Coal."

Coal turned to face the girl with a worried expression. "Winter does not find out about this! If she finds out I've been blowing shit up again she will be furious."

Ruby gave the boy a confused look, not knowing who he was referring too. "So, what you going to call it? The gauntlet?" This caused the boy to show off his childish smirk. Something Ruby was becoming fond of seeing.

"Hephaestus."

* * *

[Coal and Wiess – A Typical Sunday.]

"Coal are you awake?"

…

"Well here we go again."

Weiss crept into her twin's room that he always left unlocked and walked right up to the lump hidden under the blankets of the bed, which was lightly snoring. Ensuring that she was standing far enough back just in case he reacted badly to being woken up. She knew he would never harm her, even when he was awoken from his sleep by the girl, he had never caused her any harm or even touched her. For some odd reason, she was the only one who could actually wake him without someone almost getting killed.

Weiss ripped the thick blankets away with both hands, throwing them over her head in the process and yelled at the top of her lungs. "COAL GET UP RIGHT NOW!"

The boy jumped up to his feet having been startled from his sleep, part of his subconscious having realised that it was his twin who had disturbed him, so there was no need to resort to physical violence to fend off a potential threat. Even though by the tone of his sister's voice indicating that she was pissed.

"Weiss? What the hell are you doing?" He yelled as he rubbed some sleep from his eyes still standing on his bed. "It's Sunday, let me have a long lie in for once."

"No Coal. You promised me we would go into town to go shopping, and that is precisely what we are going to do." Weiss huffed as she puffed out her cheeks like a small child.

"No. Nuh-uh, I'm not getting out of bed yet so you're just going to have to wait." He proclaimed as he flopped back down onto the mattress.

"But…" Weiss whimpered. "You promised." Shedding a single tear _. 'Three. Two. One…'_

"Fine, give me five minutes."

"Sure, no problem." She cheered having done a full 180 and was now beaming down at her twin. "And will you please at least wear some shorts or something to bed. I'm sick of waking you up and seeing you naked." She said as she turned away to give him some privacy.

"That's one thing I will not promise Baby Sis." He said as he stood from his bed and walked over to his wardrobe without any shame. They were family and twins no less, they had seen each other in their birthday suits plenty of times as kids to be used to it by now.

(City of Vale)

"Come on Frosty you can't keep wearing those baggy combats and tee-shirts all the time, you need something that will look more appealing to women if you're ever going to get a girlfriend."

"But Weiss." Coal wined, "I look like a compete tool."

"It's just a buttoned shirt! It's nothing compared to what farther made you wear to those dinners he arranged with those hussies. At least you don't look half bad in that."

The twins had only entered the first store and to Coal's hate, Wiess had brought him shopping for his own clothes. Not for clothes for her like he had initially thought. Standing just outside a changing room, the boy now wore a pair of black skinny jeans with a navy-blue shirt which was also rather tight.

"I still don't understand when I would ever need to wear something like this." He grumbled as he attempted to stretch the crotch of the overly tight jeans.

"For when you eventually get a date you dolt!" Coal was really starting to lose patience with his sister.

"Who says I'm even looking for a girlfriend!"

Huffing and folding her arms, Weiss looked her twin dead in the eyes. "Someone is going to have to take care of you and you can be damn well sure that it won't be me. You can be such an idiot!" She turned away and exited the store in a rather quick pace having said her piece to her twin. Weiss knew that her brother was skilled in many things and was without doubt one of the smartest people she had ever known, but there was one thing that he lacked… He knew absolutely nothing about romance. He had never even been on a real date before, not counting the many dinners her farther had arranged with possible women suiters for the boy. How Weiss was going to get him together with someone was going to be one hell of a mission.

"Stupid Coal and his stupid density." She muttered as she stormed down the busy streets of Vale. _'If only he noticed Pyrrha more… Even Blake or Ruby for that matter. Just don't let it be Yang. That girl just as much of a perv as him.'_

"Hey sis!" Weiss turned around to see her brother running to catch up with her, still dressed in the outfit she chose for him. Having caught up with his sister, Coal continued to stretch his legs while also re-adjusting… "Damn these things are difficult to run in. Give me a minute here, I think my balls just went inside me." He said in a slightly higher voice.

"That's a mental image I didn't need."

"I'm sorry." He said having straightened himself up. "I know you're just looking out for me. I'm sorry I was getting annoyed at you because you're just doing what you think is right... You're not wrong, I could do with some nicer clothes if I'm going to be surrounded by the girls on your team and Jaune's team."

Smirking in victory, Weiss quickly wrapped her brother in a hug which he returned just as fast. "Your still an idiot Frosty."

"I know Snow Angel. Just, no more skinny jeans please. They are killing me right now."

"Sure." Weiss chuckled as she released her brother. "You did remember to pay for all those right." Indicating towards his clothing.

"Oh Shit, I knew I forgot something."

"You really are hopeless." Weiss said shaking her head. "If you ever do end up dating, I feel really bad for whoever it is."

"Fine then let's make a deal baby sis. You don't get yourself involved in my love life and I won't get in the way of yours." He said outstretching a hand. One which his twin shook.

"Deal" Weiss agreed, with her fingers crossed behind her back. The twins returned to their shopping and by the end of the day, Coal had purchased a whole new wardrobe courtesy of his sister. Maybe someday he would need to use them but only if he ran out of his usual attire.

* * *

[Coal and Blake – Something's Fishy.]

Blake was tearing through her book collection when Weiss walked into their room, finding the hidden Faunus girl on her hands and knees surrounded by dozens of books.

"What you looking for Blake?" Weiss asked catching the girls attention who looked up with a slight pink tint to her cheeks.

"Err… A book."

"Which one? I can help you."

"Its fine, I'll find it eventually." Blake said before going back to her frantic search. Weiss just watched her for a few moments before she remembered something earlier that day.

"Coal asked me this morning if I had any extra text books for him to borrow. Could he have taken one of your books by mist-"

"WHERE IS HE!" Blake yelled having moved as quick as lightning and grabbed the Schnee girl by the shoulders.

Weiss was surprised by Blake's actions, what kind of book did he take? "I think he said something about heading to the docks to chill for a bit or something."

Just like that Blake was gone.

Blake sprinted to the docks hoping that her teammate was right that he was there, but wrong about him taking her book. Not that she was embarrassed about reading such material, it was that Coal would constantly tease her about it. The book was rather detailed after all.

Sure, enough there he was, sitting on the end of the wooden pier with his legs dangling over the edge, facing out towards the water. he seemed rather focused on something in front of him. _'Please no!'_ Blake mentally screamed as she ran up the Coal and pulled on his shoulder so that he could face her and yelled. "What the hell do you think your-"

"Blake shhh." Coal whispered. "You will scare the fish away."

"Huh." Blake looked at the sitting boy, she really looked this time. He was sat on the edge of the wooden pier holding a fishing rod, the line barely visible stretching far out into the ocean water. But it was his face that intrigued the Faunus, she had never thought that the person who had almost ended her life, the person who she had watched kill another human and almost let herself kill could look so calm… his eyes were so relaxed that if he were any more passive he would be asleep.

"You'll scare the fish." He repeated as if it was obvious.

"Where. Is. My. Book." Blake whispered through gritted teeth. Trying not to admit to herself that she found him rather cute when he was so calm. Coal reached inside of a bag that was sitting just to his side and pulled out a black covered book with the title "Ninjas Of Love" and presented it to the girl.

"You mean this smut." Blake snatched the book from his hand with a light blush. He had read it after all.

"It's not smut." She whispered again, still falling under the boy's request to be quiet. "It's a… It's a…" She couldn't think of another way to describe the book.

"Smut." Coal repeated again with a sly smirk. "If it's not that, then Blake, what your reading there may as well be porn."

"How much of it did you read?" Blake questioned her blush deepening.

"Got halfway through the first lemon before I couldn't handle anymore." Coal shrugged turning back to his fishing. Blake just stared at him from the side, he hadn't even read past chapter four. The amount of innuendos and sexual jokes the boy made didn't reflect the fact he gave up reading a small bit of detailed reading. "Sit for a while lass. It's a nice day, so enjoy it. You've got your book back after all."

Blake pondered for a moment at the request. Sure enough it was a lovely day, the sun was out, there was a light breeze in the air and the only sound that could be heard was the water below them hitting the pier's struts. It was a very calming place to be. She took up a spot behind the fishing boy and leant back against his back using him as a seat rest, she didn't want to get a bad back after all and needed something to prop herself up against. He didn't seem to mind as he simply remained perfectly still. Blake could feel the muscles on his back, sure they weren't big but they were solid and rigid, yet she could just about feel his lungs expanding and retracting as he breathed in calm rhythmic breaths.

They sat in a comfortable silence before Blake's curiosity got the better of her. "When did you learn how to fish?" She asked not looking away from her book.

Keeping his eyes fixated on the water Coal responded. "Ironwood took me fishing when I was being trained by him. It was one of his ways to teach me how to keep calm and empty my head, while I learned how to shoot."

Blake looked over her shoulder at the boy Confused. "What do fishing and shooting have in common."

Coal let out a low chuckle, his eyes remained on the water. "Quite a lot actually. They both require patience, finesse and a calm head. And when the opportune moment comes you… STRIKE!" He yelled the last part jumping to his feet and yanking on the rod, reeling in his catch. "Come on ya little bugger you." He said as he continued to wind in the line. Blake also stood to see what he had caught, which turned out to be a fairly decent sized fish. "Alright! Mackerel for dinner tonight."

"You cook?" Blake questioned him again with doubt. Just how little did she know this guy… And why did she want to know more. Maybe it was because of them being in similar positions about trying to run from their pasts, but she'll never know.

"I can only cook the basics but I can make a mean fish and chips. You want some?" he said storing the fish in a bucket. Blake accepted the offer but only if he caught her, her own fish. She wasn't one for sharing. She never mentioned that she wanted to go back to reading while using him as a back rest… Somehow, she was comfortable in that position.

Only one question remained in her head. Was he fishing for fun, or was he fishing to keep himself calm? She never asked him as the silence they shared seemed to answer the question for her. He was here to escape the noise of his life at Beacon, to take a step back and relax. Something she did by reading her books.

"Coal?"

"Hm?"

"Next time you come fishing, let me know."

And with that, Coal gained a fishing buddy. Not that Blake would ever fish herself, she just enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of the time she spent on the pier with the boy. They would never need to say anything to understand how each other felt in the moment. Both teens had found the place where they could just be normal. Where they could be themselves and not feel like they were being judged on who they were. Coal had known about Blake's past and accepted it regardless, he had accepted her. Blake had forgiven him for almost killing her when they first met and had realised through his actions with his sister and the child, Ebony, on their first mission that deep down he was really a softy.

* * *

[Coal and Yang – A Night Out on the Town.]

Yang was pissed… and not the good kind of pissed. She was angry for one reason and that reason only. The reason… Coal was hording all the alcohol and refused to share any with her.

"Why the hell won't you share with me?" She asked for the tenth time that night. She and her team had decided to play a few games in Coal's room and the boy had decided that, after a major losing streak, that he needed a drink. Much to his sister's disgust. When Yang had asked for a drink herself, much to her own sister's disgust, he had refused saying that.

"This stuff is way too strong for a little lass like you." He said chucking back another glass of scotch. Why he was drinking such a thing or where he had gotten it from was a mystery. When asked about it he had only said, _"Blame the General."_

"Hey! I'm not some little girl!" Yang yelled getting right up in his face that their noses were touching. Coal simply looked into her gleaming red eyes without fear.

"Like I said, you couldn't handle it." Placing a finger to the blond's lips and lightly pushing her away to give himself some breathing room. "Not my fault that old Ironarse constantly left his liquor cabinet unlocked. Basically, left an open invitation for a teenage kid like me at the time."

"Oh please, I could drink circles around you." Yang stated as if it was a proven fact.

"Fine let's put that to the test shall we." Coal said with his childish smirk. Weiss instantly began to fear for her teammates safety. Something she had to say something about.

"Err Coal," Weiss began. "I don't think that's a good idea… We don't want you getting into more trouble."

"What's the worst that can happen baby sis." He said standing up. "I won't get as hammered as the time I nearly blew up father's classic car collection." That was the last thing that she needed to remember at a time like this.

"You did that when you were sober!" Weiss argued. "And we were seven at the time!"

"Details snow angel, details." He waved off. Instantly calming his sister down using his reserved nick name for his twin.

(Saturday Night.)

"Yo Yang, you ready yet." Coal yelled through the door of the girl's room after waiting for fifteen minutes longer than she had told him to.

"Just a moment Coal." Yang sang from the other side of the door. This caused the boy to curse the female population with every name under the sun. Yang as it turned out took longer to get ready than his twin and they were now losing drinking time.

Yang opened the door to find an irritated Coal who was dressed in his normal attire minus the coat with his Schnee insignia, she walked right on past him while grabbing his arm and dragging him to their evening out. Coal looked at Yang… She looked no different than normal. Same clothes, hairstyle and makeup. _'She kept me waiting all that time and she hasn't even changed!'_ he mentally raged. _'I will never understand women.'_

"I've got this awesome place that we should go." Yang said still dragging Coal. "I know the guy that owns it. He's a bit shady but it's a sweet club."

' _Shady guy who owns a club in the city of Vale. Oh hell no!'_

"Nope we are not going there!" Coal protested ripping his arm from the blond's tight grasp.

"Buy why?" Yang pouted.

"I don't mix business and pleasure."

…

"Um. Okay… So where should we go?" Yang questioned, confused at the boy's answer.

Coal showed his evil smirk as he took Yang's arm in his own and lead the two into the city. "I know a place."

(3 Bars and Many, Many Drinks Later)

"Yang your drunk."

"No, your drunk. HICK*" Yang slurred as she put and arm around the boy's shoulders. They were sat at the third bar of the night and had each drank many drinks. Coal had drunk a few more than his companion due to pace of his drinking. Yang had tried to keep up at first but by the time they had hit the second bar halfway into their night out, Yang was beyond the point of tipsy by then. Coal seemed relatively sober though, if anything he only felt a little tipsy.

Right now, though it was well into the early hours of the morning and both teens were sat at another bar recommended by the boy, due to the fact he knew the owner, like he had for every bar they had walked into, and thus had no difficulty getting served.

"So Coal." Yang slurred after ordering another drink. "Why did you dye your hair?"

"Huh?"

"I wanna *HICK* see it naturally."

"I dyed it because I'm not a Schnee anymore. People with hair as white as mine are often identified as being associated with that family."

"That doesn't make sense." Yang stated as she locked eyes with the boy. "You still call *HICK* Weiss your sister don't you."

"Yeah but I do that for her sake… Not mine." Coal whispered. So maybe the alcohol was starting to get to him as he continued. "I'd do anything for her. I'd take any amount of pain and suffering so long as she doesn't have to… I won't let her get hurt again."

"Again?" Yang questioned hoping to finally get something from the boy. It was rare that he ever got emotional like this. Her plan was working like a charm. No one can hide anything after a few drinks.

Coal winced at his own stupidity. Maybe he had said too much. But Yang had a sister of her own, so maybe she could understand.

"What would you do if someone tried to hurt Ruby, if someone tried to kill her?" He asked as he stared into his drink. "What if you had the power to protect her but knowing that if you used it, someone would die?"

Yang looked at the boy and downed the rest of her strawberry sunrise before replying honestly. "I would end anyone who would dare hurt my sister." Coal turned to meet the girl's eyes only for her to jump from her stool at the bar and run out the door. Coal followed her out only to find her hunched over a bush, throwing up her stomach contents.

"Come on firecracker, let's get you home." Coal said with a soft smile as he put his arm around the girl and lead them back to Beacon. Hoping that she wouldn't remember what he had asked in the morning.

* * *

[Team VOID – It's a family thing.]

"Little more to the left."

…

"How's this?"

"hmmm, I liked it better against the other wall."

"For fuck sake baby sis! This thing is heavy!" Coal huffed as he and Jaune bent over to pick up the sofa again. He and both teams RWBY and JNPR had chipped in to get some furniture for their self-proclaimed common room which doubled as Coal's bedroom. So far, they had bought 2 three seater sofas, a leather armchair, fridge freezer combo and Ren was currently installing an electric stove and kitchen bench. Most of this was payed for by Coal's military earnings which he had saved away due to previously having access to his Schnee fortune. Even after his purchases he still had enough to buy a small house with. Unfortunately, it was the males of the group that had drawn the short straw and were made to do all the heavy lifting.

"Just do as your told and move it against the other wall." Yang ordered as she took a spot on the couch that Coal and Jaune were carrying. The boys locked eyes for a moment and with a silent understanding that only best friends could have, they tipped the sofa causing the blond girl to fall face first onto the floor with a girly yelp. The boys complied with their instructions from the females as placed the sofa back where they originally had put it several attempts earlier that day.

"I still don't like it…" Blake and Ruby said at the same time.

"Well I'll let you girls think about it for a minute then." Coal sighed, turning to Jaune he asked his best friend at Beacon. "Hey J, think you can give me a hand with the flat screen?"

"Sure." While the boys fixed the massive screen to the back wall and Ren continued with installing kitchen, the female members of the group all bickered and fought over where the sofas should go. Much to Coal's annoyance.

"When did my room become a hang out anyway."

"Well C," Jaune replied, "When a woman decides on something they tend to just do it regardless."

"Take it you have a sister of your own?" Coal inquired, knowing that the insight must have come from experience.

"I have seven." Coal nearly dropped his side of the screen at Jaune's answer.

"Your parents really need to find a different hobby." Ren quipped from behind the stove. Causing Coal to nearly drop the screen again, giggling.

"Dude! Not cool." Jaune protested, looking very red.

"Yo Ren, you need a hand over there?" Coal asked ignoring his blond friend.

"I could use some help yes."

"Great." Coal chipped leaving Jaune to handle the heavy screen by himself. "Don't drop that J. it was expensive."

"Coal you prick get back here!" Jaune yelled to no avail. As Coal crouched down to 'assist' Ren he whispered.

"How long do you think before Nora asks you about pancakes?" Coal asked only for Ren to sigh.

"She already asked me… Every five minutes." Coal laughed before sprouting a serious look.

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"At Beacon?"

"No mate. Why the male population is here? All we do is eat, sleep and move furniture."

As if on cue…

"FROSTY! GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR AND MOVE THIS SOFA NOW!"

"REN WHEN WILL THE PANCAKES BE READY!"

"Coming Snow Angel." Coal said happily to his sister and left a chucking Ren who couldn't help but agree with the childish hunter for the first time. "Damn mate, she's worse now than when we got bunk beds as kids."

"You had bunk beds as kids?" Nora asked

"Yeah we did" Weiss said still thinking about where to place the sofa.

"We fought tooth and nail to get them though." Coal continued.

"Father wouldn't let us because we had our own rooms at the time."

"But we convinced him into knocking down the wall between them."

"To make one room for both of us." Weiss finished. Getting looks from the rest of the teens in the room. "What?"

"That was just weird how you guys did that." Ruby explained looking between the siblings.

"We are twins Red." Coal shrugged, as he and Jaune placed the sofa down once again.

"Exactly. We only do it" Wiess said.

"On occasion. It's more of a" Coal Continued.

"Rare habit. We don't even"

"Realise we do it half the time. Let me guess you want it back over there?" Coal finished pointing to where he and Jaune had just moved the sofa from.

"Yes, I think I was right the first time."

"More like the fifth." Jaune joked. "Seriously Snow Angel would you just- EEEP!" Jaune yelped having been instantly floored by the Schnee girl who looked rather pissed.

"How many times… Don't call me that!"

"But Coal gets to!" Jaune argued.

"She only lets me call her that mate." Coal explained, flexing his right hand, a nervous habit. "All the Schnee siblings have nicknames for each other. Kind of like a family thing that is reserved for us."

"Coal gets Frosty from me, but he gets different names from Winter and Whitley."

"I coined Snow Angel and Baby Sis for Wiess and I call my older sister Winter, Frostbite."

"What about Whitley?" Wiess asked having never heard him call their youngest brother by anything other than his name.

"I just call him shit stain." Wiess rolled her eyes.

"Get your ass back to work Jaune before I rip you a new one." Wiess ordered picking the blond back up from the floor having shrugged off her twin. Her brothers never got along so she had expected as much from her twin.

Once the room was somewhat organised, Coal and Ren prepared a meal using the fish that Coal had caught on one of his fishing trips and each teen enjoyed a film on the lopsided flat screen which was hung incorrectly by Jaune and Coal. the boys purposefully did so knowing that it would annoy a certain white themed girl.

* * *

[Coal and Pyrrha – Not a Date, Date.]

Pyrrha was worried. For the last three days Coal, had been very uncharacteristically quiet and had been constantly training in the gym, away from everyone else. Even Wiess was struggling to bring him around. She knew that he must be bottling things up again so she decided that what he needed best was to get away from the school grounds for a bit of fun.

She walking into the gym to find Coal beating on a punchbag which was splitting along the side. "Coal!" she shouted getting the boys attention as he broke rhythm for a moment before resetting. "Come on we're going into the city for the day. And that's not up for debate!" she finished knowing that the boy would argue, sometimes it was easier just to not give him a choice. Coal stopped punching for a moment before speaking between breathes.

"Why… Would we go… Out on a Sunday?" Pyrrha folded her arms and answered.

"Because you need to vent, and destroying the gym equipment isn't the best way to go about it." She said as she indicated to a pile of broken punch bags in the corner of the room. "You need to get out and have some fun. So, go get showered and changed."

"Ugh fine." Coal accepted reluctantly. He could never say no to a woman after all.

After changing into some clean clothes, which just happened to be a pair of jeans and a navy shirt and black trainers that his sister had forced him to buy, he had no spare sets of combats or tee-shirts due to forgetting about his ever-growing laundry pile. Coal walked beside Pyrrha through the city centre wondering where the redhead was leading him. She had also changed into something more civilian, she was wearing an emerald green tank top which hugged her figure with a pair of form fitting light blue jeans and a pair of leather heeled sandals. It had taken her a while to finally decide on an outfit.

"So, where we headed Pyrrha?" Coal asked from her left.

"To the arcade." She replied getting a confused look for the boy.

"You don't like games."

"Not so much…" She shrugged. "But you do."

Coal also shrugged. Maybe playing a few games would be fun. As the two approached the arcade Coal's face changed into the face that a small child would have after receiving a new toy. Pyrrha knew that this would fix his mood seeing that he ran on ahead. She followed behind at a much slower pace but was happy none the less that the boy seemed somewhat like his old self. It didn't take too long to catch up with him as she found him playing some kind of shooting game as he was holding a plastic rifle and pointing it at a large tv screen.

"Damn Zombies why can't they just stay still!" Pyrrha heard him grumble as he continued to shoot nothing at the screen. "Mother Fucker!" he yelled as he slammed down the plastic gun, even Pyrrha could tell that he just lost. She pushed him aside and picked up the hunk of plastic herself and, having paid her fee for the machine, had a go herself.

"Woah…" Coal awed watching the Spartan. "You just crushed my high score." She may have beaten his score but she didn't progress much further than that. But rather than just loose her temper like her rival she replaced the gun gently on its platform ready for the next player.

"That was… Mildly entertaining."

"How did you do that! You even got past the first boss in no time at all!"

"probably because I'm used to holding a rifle or something."

The two teens played a few more games, Coal winning most of them, before taking a break to get something to eat at a fast food restaurant located inside the arcade. Coal had ordered several burgers for himself while Pyrrha had gotten a vegetarian burger. Not that she was vegetarian, she was just self-conscious about what she ate when her rival was around.

"So how come you asked me out Pyrrha?" Coal asked wolfing down another burger. Looking up from his food he noticed that the girl grew a light blush. As to why he had no idea.

"Well… You weren't acting like yourself." Pyrrha said quietly, still flustered about the way he worded his question. "I figured a day playing around would help you let go of whatever was bothering you. Mind if I ask what that was?"

With a heavy sigh and finishing off another burger Coal figured that he could once again confide in Pyrrha. "I'm pissed off."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow to the boy and waited for him to continue.

"I've been looking into dust infusion and human anatomy… you remember the thing on my back?" he asked, when he received a nod of confirmation he kept explaining. "Well, I want rid of it. Everything I've found out, every case study, every bit of evidence says that to extract the dust there is a good chance I could die from the operation. A very high change."

"And you still want to do it..."

"No!" Coal snapped, "I can't run the risk of leaving Wiess alone. It doesn't matter what I want."

Pyrrha placed a hand over his own in an attempt to calm him down. She spoke in a calming tone.

"Maybe you should speak to her about all this…" When Coal shot her a dirty look she explained her reasoning. "She has a right to know. She is your sister after all and you being pissed off is affecting her just as much as it is you." Coal released a deep breath before looking way from the girl and standing up.

"Come on lass." He said getting up avoiding Pyrrha's gaze, he hated it when she was right. "Let's play a few more games before we head back."

On the way out of the arcade, the duo walked passed a claw machine which Pyrrha noticed out the corner of her eye contained a bunch of small plush artic wolf. It was just the cutest thing she had seen. Doesn't matter how much of a badass she was, she was still a girl and fell for the cute things in life. Though she did well to hide it. But not well enough apparently as Coal walked up to the machine and inserted a coin to begin the game. Within seconds he had won the plush she had been eying. Reaching down to the prize slot his picked out his trophy and handed it to the girl with a soft smile.

"Thanks for today. You were right, I needed a bit of fun. And I'll think about what you said, about telling Wiess." Pyrrha accepted and thanked the boy with a red tint to her cheeks and they both walked back to Beacon as the sun began to set across the horizon.

As Pyrrha walked to her room, having left Coal when he returned to his, she thought over the events of the day and one question kept repeating in her mind. _'Was that a date?'_ during the walk back, she had accepted that she had a slight crush on her rival. She opened the door to her room to head straight to bed and sleep on the matter only to be met by a certain white themed girl sitting on her bed with an evil smile she had obviously learned from her twin.

"So Pyrrha." She said with a mischievous tone. "How was the date?"

"IT WASN'T A DATE!" Pyrrha yelled. Coal would probably say the same thing so she may as well accept it.

* * *

A/N

This chapter was such a blast to write. I know your all probably wanting me to get back to the cannon story which will be coming back in the next chapter don't you worry your pretty little heads about that. I just thought it was a bit different to a months worth of time skip.

Also, quick shout out to GhostToast42 for the date idea with Pyrrha, I was struggling to think of a scene between the two and that fit the bill perfectly so thanks for that buddy.

Now for some good news! For your patience over the past week I'm doing a double update this week so watch out for next chapter tomorrow!

BYE-BYE!


	14. Chapter 14

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

Good morrow to all yee little buggers.

This is a shorter chapter but I felt like it was a nice place to end it seeing as for what I have planned and already wrote for ch 15 will be quite a thing. As of right now I'm going to say this. After watching RWBY S1 from start to finish like a hundred times now, I'm confirming that I will be sticking somewhat to the original plot while simultaneously telling my own story through this fic. I don't want to write the original scene for scene in this fic so there will be some differences so get it through your heads already that this is an AU if you have not already realised or previously read my A/Ns.

Rant now over…

You know personally I really want to do something different with this fic so I'm going to say it here and now. As of this moment I have been creating a small story board for all seasons of RWBY and while creating this, I've come to realise that I'm at a 50 -50 dilemma of how dark I'm going to make this fic.

There is something else that needs to be addressed. I've said previously that everything I write has a purpose behind it, and while that statement remains true, I have kept too many things hidden in my writing so I've pushed things along from my original plan. I hope this doesn't disappoint but seeing as how I'm now on chapter 14 and only this far along with the original I think it's time to move it along some.

Also if any of you do have any questions or queries about this fic either message me through PM or ask me in a review. I do try and reply to all reviews but unfortunately to those of you who have PM turned off well sorry lads and lasses but nout I can dee about that.

Bugger, me accents coming out again… on with the chapter

Still don't own RWBY

* * *

Chapter 14: The Bet, The Threat and The Challenge.

It had been a month after his first mission at Beacon and Coal had settled in nicely with his new life at the school. He fell into a simple routine of being rudely awakened by his sister most mornings after a long night of studying and reading, to make sure that he wasn't late for classes. He slept through most of them anyway having either already studied up on the subject being taught or would research it later on in the evening. If he wasn't sleeping during class he was wondering around the corridors of the school having gotten lost on the way to the lesson. Even when someone accompanied him to make sure he got to the classroom he had a habit of disappearing in the blink of an eye, much to his sister's annoyance.

Coal found that he had quickly made friends with both teams RWBY and JNPR and had something in common with each member over his first month of school. During the month he had also had the time to train with both teams RWBY and JNPR and had a much better grasp on each members fighting style. He had sparred with each of them and over the course of time found that his shoulder had healed fully about a week ago and had since removed the bandages.

Although it wasn't all good news. Coal's bloodlust was growing with each passing day and he could feel himself slipping back into a dark pit. His other persona was making more and more attempts of seizing control over his actions and that made the boy scared. He had given Pyrrha an abridged version of his dilemma back on their first mission and while she had been there to help when he really needed it, he never when to her on his own accord. She had always come to him when he had begun to isolate himself from the rest of the group. Needless to say, he could tell they were starting to get a little bit worried but he would never burden any of them with his own faults. He just wasn't that type of guy.

Coal watched as his friend got smacked around the arena above him. Jaune was fighting the schools notorious bully Cardin Winchester and was losing badly. Jaune had just had his shield battered away by Cardin and his mace. The blond knight, yelling at the top of his voice, charged back in with his sword raised only to be knocked back once more. Glynda had seen enough and decided to stop the fight at that point.

"That's enough!" she said as she walked to the front of the arena floor to address her students. "Now students, as you can see Mr. Arc's aura had dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this indicates that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match. Mr. Arc it's been weeks now, please try and refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decided when it is appropriate to attack or when it is better to move to a more… Defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to get gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?"

Jaune could only mutter an affirmative having lost to the school bully.

"Now students we have time for one more duel. Who would like to participate?"

Weiss grew a mischievous smirk and leant in towards Pyrrha so that only the two of them could hear. "Want to make a bet?" This instantly sparked the Spartan's interest.

"Bet?" she whispered back.

"We fight and if you win, I'll get Coal to make those muffins you like so much." Pyrrha quickly shrugged as if playing off that those muffins weren't the most amazing thing in the world. Though she never disagreed to those terms. "And if I win…" Weiss continued. "You have to ask my brother out on a date." Pyrrha's eyes widened at the girls sudden outburst. She never got a chance to deny the bet before Weiss had stepped up to the stage and was pointing at her. "Professor I want to fight against Pyrrha." She said with a mischievous smirk, which on better days could rival her brother's.

"That would be acceptable." Was all Glynda said before moving to stand at the side of the arena. Pyrrha could on sigh and take her place opposite the Schnee girl, sure Weiss was no push over as she had been trained not by only her father and the best professional instructors money could buy, but she had also been trained by her brother. Someone Pyrrha considered to be the strongest person she had ever fought against.

Coal watched the two girls take their places, having not heard their little wager, he smiled thinking that it would be an entertaining spar.

"Begin!" Professor Goodwitch shouted.

Weiss raised her rapier and brought it up to head height, keeping the tip of the blade focused on her opponent. She created a glyph under her feet to give her more momentum and used that to launch herself at the Spartan who blocked using her shield, though due to the force behind the strike, slid back a few feet. Weiss took this moment to continue her barrage of stabs and slashes, seemingly floating around the Spartan who was either blocking or dodging the strikes with ease.

Yang leant over to Coal, she had a slight confused look on her face as she couldn't help but think where she had seen someone quite literally dance around an opponent.

"Where did she learn to fight?" she questioned. Coal grew a smirk and without turning to meet the blond he answered.

"From me."

Back in the arena, Pyrrha had grown tired of playing defensive. She changed her sword into its spear form and with a swing from her shield, staggered the white themed girl and left a sizable opening to utilize. Which she did.

Pyrrha thrust her spear towards the torso of her opponent who was unable to dodge due to the shield strike, taking the full brunt of the attack and being force back a few feet landing on her back and lightly hitting her head on the arena's stone floor. _'Thank goodness for aura.'_ Weiss thought although the strike was powerful enough to take off a good brunt of her aura reserves. She hated that her reserves were so low in times like this.

"That all you got Pyrrha?" she smirked as she struggled back to her feet. "Cause I'm just…" Weiss' vision started to blur "Getting…" her vision darkened even more.

Coal instantly recognised what was happening. She hadn't done this since just after they left home over a month ago. "Shit no.." he whispered as his sister started to fall back. "Weiss!" he yelled as he jumped up just in time to catch her before she hit the ground. She was completely unconscious. Glynda had also approached alongside Pyrrha who was slightly shaken at the girls condition after the strike she had purposefully weakened.

"What happened?" Glynda asked Pyrrha. The red head could only stutter in confusion unable to give a proper answer. Luckily Coal saved her from the gaze of the professor.

"It's ok… This happens from time to time." He said as calmly as possible as he rose to a standing position with his twin in his arms bridal style. "I'm going to take her to the infirmary. She'll be alright." He stated before walking off. Pyrrha followed close behind, she wanted to apologise for unintentionally knocking Weiss out and felt like she should at least she her to the infirmary.

"I'm sorry." she said to the boy.

"Don't be." He turned his head to look at the girl over his shoulder. "It's not your fault, she's been pushing herself hard this last month so something like this was bound to happen eventually. I'm just glad it happened in there rather than with a Grimm." He summed up.

Pyrrha moved to walk alongside him, now knowing that he wasn't angry at her. "Does this happen a lot?" She questioned before immediately trying to correct her rudeness. "I mean err. Weiss has said before that she was a lot weaker when she was younger but just how bad is she really?"

Coal didn't say a word more until they arrived at the medical wing and he placed his twin onto one of the beds, letting one of the nurses in to check on his sister's condition. "That is up for her to decide whether or not to tell you."

"Its fine Coal."

Both teens turned to look at the girl on the bed who was now awake and shooing the nurse away say that she was alright. "See, only a small one. Not like the ones I used to get when I could be out for maybe hours at a time…" she continued. "But I think it's best to explain it to all our friends rather than keep it between us any longer." Coal nodded at his sister's words and gave a soft comforting smile to his twin.

"Well alright then… Anyway, its lunch time now and you," he pointed to his twin, "need some food in you!"

"Yeah, yeah." Weiss agreed as she made to stand up from the bed and nearly falling back down to it with the dizziness. Coal quickly slipped under his sisters arms and made himself into a brace for the girl to lean against. "You'll only get lost without me or Pyrrha showing you how to get there."

"Do you want me to get you your wheelchair?" He teased.

"You know I can't stand those things. Besides I've always got you to lean against." She argued back remembering the infernal contraption she was bound to in her youth. She turned to Pyrrha with a sly smile. "For now our little bet is on hold."

Coal raise a single eyebrow as he and his sister walked out the infirmary. "What bet?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about my dear brother." Weiss said while she patted her brothers chest with her free hand. Pyrrha followed them both with slightly red cheeks.

* * *

"She's been having this recurring dream for at least a month now." Ren clarified for the group. As Pyrrha, Coal and Wiess sat down at the table with their friends. Weiss and Pyrrha taking seats next to their respective partners while Coal took a seat on the end next to Ren.

"Best not pay attention to dreams lass." Coal said knowingly as he reached across to pick some food from Blake's plate seeing as she seemed to distracted by her book to notice, only for his hand to be slapped away. "Aww come on, they stopped serving just before we arrived!"

"Well that's your problem." The Faunus girl retorted not looking away from her book.

"How did you even know I was going to take some anyway? You never take your face out that book!" he argued.

Weiss glanced at her twin before mocking him. "Pot meet kettle."

"Oi! Least I'm filling my head with information rather than crappy stories." Blake looked over her book to shoot him daggers with her eyes. "Seriously Blake, some of them are as bad as that 50 shades series. Maybe worse."

Ruby raised an eyebrow "What's 50 shades?"

As the group bickered, with Coal still attempting to steal food from Blake rather than accept an offer from Ruby to share, the youngest girl needed the most food to help her grow up some, Pyrrha looked towards her partner who hadn't said or eaten anything at all today. He was just moving the food around his plate using his fork with a distant look on his face. Normally he would be the first one to back the only member of team VOID up but today he just didn't look right at all. "Is everything okay Jaune?" She asked.

Jaune jumped slightly at being brought into the conversation and stuttered for a response. "uhh. Y-Yeah… Why."

Ruby responded with a hint of doubt. "It's just that you seem, well not okay."

"I'll second that!" Coal proclaimed from the end of the table, raising a can of beer he seemed to have gotten from nowhere.

"Will you put that away, we are in the middle of school!" His sister scolded him.

"Guys I'm fine." Jaune said while the twins bickered in the background. "Seriously, look." He gave the group a thumbs up and put on his best fake smile. His actions convinced no one.

They teen heard some laughing from the table across from them and turned their heads to see Cardin and his team surrounding a Faunus girl with brown rabbit ears who looked rather uncomfortable.

"Jaune." Pyrrha address her partner bring the attention of the teens back to their table, though Coal and Blake's gaze remained on team CRDL for a moment longer. "Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school."

"Uh. Who? Cardin Winchester? No, he just likes to mess around you know, practical jokes." Jaune tried to shrug off.

"He's a bully." Ruby deadpanned.

"Oh Please, name one time he's 'bullied' me." Jaune said using air quotes.

"Knocking all your books to the ground."

"Getting your shield stuck in the door."

"Trapping you in the rocket lockers."

"Putting itching powered in your bra."

"COAL THAT WAS YOU!" Weiss stood and moved to punch her twin having finally put two and two together about the incident yesterday. The teens began to ignore the fighting twins, it was a regular occurrence between the two which they had all gotten used to by now.

"Pft. I didn't land too far from the school."

"Jaune. If you ever need help you know you can just ask."

"Ooo I know." Nora stood and struck a pose. "We'll break his legs." Coal took a break from fighting with his twin to egg the hammer wielder on.

"You take the legs, I take the arms?"

"That's right and then he'll be crippled for life."

"But we can't let him suffer, we aren't that cruel Nora." Coal reasoned.

"Then we just have to put the puppy down." Nora shrugged.

"Yes, your right, it is the humane thing to do." Coal also shrugged. This when unnoticed by the rest of the teens also, as if it was also seen on a regular basis in the last month.

"Guys really, its fine. It's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone."

"OW! THAT HURTS." Came a cry from behind the knight.

Cardin was pulling on one of the Faunus girl's ears while laughing with his team saying that he told them they were real.

"Haha, See I told you guys-" Cardin was interrupted as his metal clad arm was grasped from the side. Coal had seen enough. "What the hell you doing?" Cardin spat as he looked to the dark, coal black eyes of the teen who had quite a tight grip on his arm. The grip only tightened and eventually began to collapse the gauntlet that Cardin was wearing, only increasing the pain in the boys arm. He eventually had to let go of the Faunus girls ear due to the pain.

"Table behind us." Coal spoke softly looking at the girl with a kind expression. She looked at him confused before seeing a few people behind him gesturing for her to come and sit with them, which she quickly accepted. Coal turned back towards Cardin, eyes filled with rage. "Think about doing that again or to anyone else… You will lose that arm." He promised, releasing the boy and turning to walk away. Only for Cardin to put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to stop him. That was not a good idea.

Coal grabbed the arm again which Cardin had used to try and stop him and dropped down towards the ground and pulling on the arm, sending Cardin flying over his shoulder and landing on his back in front of the teen.

Almost immediately the rest of team CRDL surrounded Coal to stop him from leaving as Cardin rose to his feet, the rage and embarrassment from being floored so easily was painted all over his face. The mess hall went quiet to watch the confrontation. Many of the students hoping that a fight would break out with one of the schools strongest fighters and the notorious school bully.

"That's enough!" Came the commanding voice of Glynda Goodwitch. "Back to your seats, all of you."

"He started it professor." Cardin yelled while pointing at Coal who just placed his hands in his coat pockets.

"Is that true Mr. Coal?" The professor asked.

Coal looked at the older woman and raised a single eyebrow. "What do you think." He said in a emotionless tone. Glynda examined the scene and quickly understood what he was asking. Since she had met the boy a month ago, she realised that he was a childish prankster with a dark side that would put most criminals to shame. Yet he had never initiated a fight or caused any bodily harm, not even though his pranks. Despite the obvious dark side to him she just couldn't see him wanting to cause someone harm unless they fully deserved it. She really had more pressing matters to focus on than this anyway.

"Just take your seats and finish your lunch children." Which Coal did without question. Cardin stayed to argue with the professor about not punishing the boy who floored him and attempted to start a fight but Coal merely tuned the scene out. He was to hungry to give a shit about the ginger boy. He sat back down at his table with his friends on the other side of the rabbit Faunus who had taken his seat.

"Thank you." She whispered to him.

"No problem lassie." He said with a smile as he held out a hand to address the girl he introduced himself.

After a brief period of meet and greet with the rest of the table, the rabbit Faunus now known to the group as Velvet had told a few stories to the rest of the teens about the times when she had found Coal lost around the school and needed to point him in the right direction. The teens had also found out that she was a second year student and was actually in some of their classes also due to her transferring to Beacon late last year. She was busy telling the group about how she had found him in a heap outside on of the girls changing rooms having taken a wrong turn at the wrong time. This got a round of laughs from the teens.

Eventually the bell rang signalling the end of lunch and the beginning of their next lesson, History with Professor Oobleck.

* * *

"Now then students prior to the Faunus rights revolution, otherwise known as the Faunus war…" Professor Oobleck began. He was a slim fellow with green hair and glasses covered his eyes, though his appearance did leave a few students with questioned as he always looked like he had always just ran through a storm. Some put it down to the fact the he would dash from point to point while delivering his lectures.

"… Some repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day." He paused to take a drink from his thermos. "Ms. Schnee, can you please wake your brother." The professor did not want a repeat of what happened the last time someone other than the boy's twin had tried to rise him from his slumber. For some reason, the only one able to wake the boy without him going crazy was his sister.

*SLAP*

"OW!"

"Now." The professor continued without batting an eye. "Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" a few students raised their hands at this question. "Dreadful! Simple dreadful. Remember students it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence. I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang. Now! Which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point, in the third year of the war?"

Weiss raised her hand.

"The battle at Fort Castle."

"Precisely. Could you please wake you brother up again Ms. Schnee?"

*SLAP*

"OW!"

"And now, who can tell me the advantage that the Faunus had over the general's forces."

"Hey!" Came a surprised start from Jaune, having been awoken by a ball of paper hitting him in the back of the head curtesy of Cardin.

"Mr. Arc finally contributing to class, now what is the answer?"

"The answer… The answer…" Jaune looked around hoping to find the answer among the walls of the classroom, he noticed Pyrrha who was gesturing her eyes like a pair of… "Binoculars!"

This got a round of laughs from the students and a rather timid facepalm from his partner.

"Very funny Mr. Arc… Cardin, perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject."

"Well I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." Cardin stated leaning back in his seat. Coal's eyes shot open from having almost fallen asleep again.

"You're not the most open minded of individuals are you Cardin?" Pyrrha asked, a hint of anger hidden in her voice.

"What, you got a problem?" the boy retorted.

"No, I have the answer." The Spartan said while turning back to the professor. "It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly perfect sight in the dark." Cardin could only grumble in response, not able to come up with something to throw back at the girl.

"General Lagoon was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was out matched and the general was captured." Blake continued. "Perhaps if he had payed attention in class, he wouldn't have been known as such a failure." She finished with a childish smirk that could rival Coal's. This pissed Cardin off as he rose out his seat in anger.

"Want some water for that burn Cardin!" Coal shouted from the top row.

"FUCK YOU!" Cardin shouted.

"Mr. Winchester please take your seat!" the professor yelled having not expected to raise his voice today. "Save the fighting for combat class."

"Actually professor." Coal said as he also rose to his feet and began to stretch. "That's not a bad idea. If team CRDL want a fight I'll be happy to take them on. I could do with the exercise."

"You want to go then bring it, you pale bastard!" Cardin yelled.

Coal smirked down at the boy and cracked the biggest shit eating grin both teams RWBY and JNPR had seen. "Fine, me Vs team CRDL... This should be fun."


	15. Chapter 15

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

Shit man this chapter.

Seriously, what did I have in me when I wrote this. I've actually had to increase the rating of this fic out of concern that it may be too dark and harsh. I'm only covering my ass there.

I've also explained Weiss' condition in this chapter so you know a bit more about what she really has.

This chapter is full of detail about who Coal really is. Literarily I've explained almost everything about his past now bar one thing which will come up in the next couple chapters. I've also re explained a few things I've already reviled about him just to confirm it to the rest of the characters. Because of this there will be a lot of speech from Coals side but I hope it doesn't throw you all off. I find it easier to explain thing's through speech as it let you guys see things from the same perspective as the rest of the characters but do not fret. I will be doing a few flashback scenes in the future to show Coal's point of view for some of them. Seriously, I could write a whole new story about just the twins growing up… wait, should I do that?

I both love and hate this chapter and I've rewrote it so many times now, that I'm actually starting to wonder if this was the best version to use…

One more week for the poll on Coal's pairing. Get voting if you haven't already. At the moment, it is very close competition so I hope you guys will sort that out.

Oh, one more thing… who should I kill off first?

Coal has already killed in this fic, you all read it. he's already nearly killed Blake and Yang in the forest. So who should he actually kill first? This will not be a poll! I've already got a few ideas in mind for a LOT of deaths in this fic. This isn't going to get pretty. Let's be fair *spoiler alert for season three of RWBY if ya aint seen it*. RWBY season 3 killed a main character so if they can do it, why can't I. I want to see what you guy's think throughout this fic. Should someone need to die, give me a reason to kill em. I dare you!

Don't own RWBY

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Chapter 15: Secrets of an Executioner

"ARE YOU STUPID!" Weiss shouted as her twin was getting ready for his upcoming fight. "I don't care how cocky you are, you cannot take on an entire team of huntsmen by yourself! Even if it is Cardin's team."

Coal was focusing on fixing his newly improved gauntlet to his right arm, he had never really had a chance to fully test the improvements, but he and Ruby had done enough testing to know that it was working as well as it could be. Plus, he needed the practice with it since he had to incorporate a more complex form of ice forging.

"I'll be fine Snow Angel." Weiss knew he was not going to be talked out of this because of how he used his nickname for her. "This needs to happen."

"But why does it 'need to happen'." She asked in a mock impression of her twin.

"Because Cardin needs to be taken down a peg!" He yelled, causing his sister to wince and lower her head. It wasn't often that he raised his voice to his twin. With a heavy sigh, Coal continued. "I'm sorry for shouting… But you know that I don't like people who think they are above everyone else."

"I know Frosty." She said timidly. She felt her brother warp her in a hug and returned it herself, knowing full well that he would only fight for the right reasons. Cardin needed to be knocked off his high horse and it would be her twin who would see to making sure that he stayed down. "On a different note, when are you going to go back to your natural hair colour? Frosty doesn't have the same ring to it when you have black hair."

Coal chuckled as he released his twin, not really knowing the answer himself and headed for the arena.

(Arena Stands)

Weiss approached the rest of her friends with mixed feelings on the fight that was about to take place. On one hand, she knew her brother was right and that Cardin needed to be taught a lesson but on the other she was afraid her brother wouldn't be able to hold back against him… That made her worry about the odds of team CRDL coming out of this fight alive and her brother's sanity. She knew that he was slightly unstable, probably more so that she even realised, but he wouldn't kill another student… Would he?

Yang attempted to break the silence.

"So, we finally get to see the Executioner in action." At this, she got multiple stares from both teams, an even more confused stare from Weiss, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of them. "I asked Junior to see what he could dig up on him. Apparently, his code name was Executioner when he was under General Ironwoods command. He was unable to find out how or when he got the name though. Actually, for some reason Junior already knew about his name." She informed.

This created even more questions for the teens which none of them voiced. Knowing that only one person can answer them and he was currently about to fight. He had a lot of explaining to do after this fight.

* * *

(Arena)

Coal stood alone in the hallway entrance to the arena deep in thought. Taking slow, rhythmic breaths to keep himself calm and not let the growing bloodlust take over. The hate and rage had been building up inside him for a while now and this was the perfect way to release it all. He was going to go wander around the emerald forest later in the week anyway to kill a few Grimm and subdue his bloodlust, yet fighting against Cardin and his team seemed a lot more… Satisfying.

 _ **You know we can just kill them, right?**_

"Yeah, I know." He said raising his head and walking out to the arena floor.

Immediately most of the crowd became terrified, as what emerged could not be seen as human. A dark shroud of bloodlust, that even the students recognised as something that only Grimm could produce, hung in the air around the white coated teen like a thick black mist. Even team CRDL, who had been waiting for the boy to appear, backed away slightly. Only Cardin seemed oblivious to the situation.

"About time you showed up." Cardin spat only to get no response from his team's opponent. It was at this point when Glynda stepped between them to begin the match. Behind her the faces of the combatants appeared on a large screen. Each face had a green bar underneath indicating the person's aura. Coal's was already slightly depleted, falling and rising, never fully reaching 100% but not dropping lower than 90%. While this struck the crowd as weird, they all payed it little mind as they turned their attention to Glynda.

"You all know the rules. There are none. Only that once someone's aura hits the red, they will be eliminated from the match. Are we clear?" Once she got nods of understanding from both parties, with Coal also equipping his headphones, she walked to the edge of the arena to stand alongside the headmaster, who wouldn't dare miss what was bound to be an amusing fight if the ex Schnee was involved. "BEGIN!"

[Battle music: Bring me the Horizon - Throne]

Cardin charged in first. Raising his mace high above his head bringing it down to cave in the boy's skull. It was obvious that he intended to end this fight with a single blow, he was angry at the person who had the never to embarrass him in front of the school during lunch and again during class. It was time for payback.

The second before the mace made contact with his head, Coal disappeared. Causing Cardin to miss and stumble forward having lost balance thinking that he was sure to hit his mark. To Cardin's eyes it looked like Coal had vanished, but in reality, he had jumped above the boy with lightning speed and was now seemingly hovering above the armoured teen. Something the rest of team CRDL noticed.

Dove, a brown-haired teen with plated armour who carried a sword which doubled as a gun, aimed at the floating boy and fired with uncanny accuracy. Coal had already accounted for at least one marksman on the team and had outstretched his left hand in order to summon a glyph to block the shots, whilst simultaneously, ice forging an estoc containing a small amount of fire dust with a flick of his other wrist. Sure, he had crafted the blade in less than a couple of seconds, but he knew it was slower because of having to avoid activating the fire dust. He never used the blade against any of the teens as he landed on Cardin's back, who had just straightened himself out, and threw the blade into the ground so that it was sticking out. Creating a new one as he jumped into the centre of the arena floor, which he also slammed into the ground.

The members of CRDL charged at once to attack the solo hunter, who quite easily began to slip through their attacks with ease whilst creating and planting more blades in the ground. Moving around the arena with grace and purpose, Coal continued playing the defensive whilst setting up his own field. It almost looked as if he was floating just above the ground due to the speed and delicacy of his movements, barely avoiding the attacks from Team CRDL by a few millimetres. Yet he seemed rather calm about the close proximity of the attacks.

In the stands, all the students but two seemed confused by Coal's fighting style. All he had done so far was dodge attacks and stab swords into the ground across the battlefield. Only Weiss and Pyrrha knew what the boy was up to yet Ruby was the only one with the nerve to question his fighting style.

"What is he doing?" She asked leaning over towards her partner.

"He's setting up his graveyard." This caught the attention of the rest of the teens, prompting her to continue. "He would normally create blades and plant them a lot faster than this. When he fought against Pyrrha in the last tournament, he created over fifty blades within the first ninety seconds of the fight, whereas now, he's only made fifteen in the same amount of time."

"Damn that's fast." Yang whistled. Pyrrha continued on from Weiss' explanation while Coal continued to embed more blades, the field looked about half full and it was easy to see that team CRDL were having trouble moving around the blades of ice in order to get to him.

"He likes to switch out between blades often, rather than hang onto one. He told me that he had a habit of breaking metal ones during training so he developed his ice forging to get by that. To speed things up, he would normally create a whole arsenal of blades around him to start with and continue on as he goes, picking them up when he needs them, sometimes he will store them in small straps and belts that are attached to his ammo bag and coat. Both times I've fought him, he started off by forging maybe ten swords in a protective circle around him like how he has planted them now. He's without a doubt the most difficult opponent I've ever tried to hit, both because of the blades and his evasiveness, which has improved greatly since our last duel." Pyrrha said with admiration.

"Buy why did Weiss call it his 'graveyard'?" Jaune asked confused.

"Look at the blades and what do you see." Weiss asked the group. Each teen looked down at the spectacle of ice made swords wondering what the girl was implying. Since the start of the fight, a low eerie mist had formed across the span of the field of ice blades, created only from the cold air radiating from Coal's creations. Ruby got it first.

"They look like crosses… The ones you would find on gravestones." She said quietly, hoping she was wrong.

"Bingo." Weiss nodded.

Back down on the arena floor, Sky Lark was growing tired of the close proximity of the forest of blades. Wielding a halberd made it difficult to attack when his strikes could be blocked from anyone of the embedded blades. The length that Coal forged his blades left them sticking far enough out the ground so that they were almost at the boy's chest height. Sure, he could swing above the blades, but after several attempts at this and nearly falling over due to rising his centre of gravity to reach above the blades, he was starting to get pissed.

Finally snapping, Sky lashed out at the closest imbedded blade and with a mighty yell, raising his halberd above his head to slam it down and knock down the blades around him with the force of his strike. Little did he know that his opponent started smirking, having seen what he was about to do.

Coal dodged another strike from Cardin and leapt high into the air to escape the battle for a moment, pulling over the hood of his coat to hide his eyes and face. Holding no sword in his hands, he waved his right hand over the area where Sky was about to smash his creations and summoned several glyphs under the blades surrounding the boy. With an evil smirk he growled in a dark unrecognisable voice.

" **Burn.** "

*BOOM*

Several of the blades surrounding Sky exploded in a mass of fire and ice with Coal activating the stored away fire dust inside his creations. The eruption of fire was enough to shake the very school itself and even caused the remainder of team CRDL to drop to their knees having lost balance. Even Ozpin and Glynda struggled to stay upright. Sky flew out of the explosion and into the stands where the spectators sat, who were not fully aware of what happened having shielded their eyes from the fireball. The boy was completely unconscious and had almost no remaining aura.

With Sky eliminated, Cardin stood up to see Coal land back on the ground. Well, he actually landed on the pommel of one of his swords and was balancing on it with ease, arms folded and hood hiding his face. A rage built up inside Cardin at seeing one of his friends taken out by a cheap tactic.

Coal didn't say put for long as he crafted one more blade and pounced a stunned member of Cardin's team, Dove. With a swift thrust of his blade, Coal sent the boy flying back with the single exploding strike, his sword literly exploding as he made contact, and pounced once more, dropping and collecting a new blade in one fluid motion along his flight path to his target. Dove was still gliding through the air, winded by the strike to his chest, when Coal caught up and appeared beneath him. Thrusting his new blade into the Dove's back he sent the boy flying upwards this time while he crouched on the ground. Coal then crafted and threw a new blade to follow the airborne teen and collected a new blade that was sticking from the ground to his right and jumped in the air in pursuit of his prey who was still climbing in height and approaching the ceiling with speed. Catching his second blade in his left hand as he ascended, Coal continued to climb eventually reaching Dove who was still unable to move, completely in shock. Coal stabbed both his blades into Dove's shoulder plates, making sure not to actually pierce the boy through his flesh, using the momentum from his jump and proceeded to continue to ascend in height until he was able to pierce the roof of the arena, embedding both blades in the material and leaving both the blades and a pinned Dove attached to it. Eliminated.

Falling once more, Coal landed back in the centre of the arena with little trouble and picked up a new blade which he had placed earlier. His back facing his remaining opponents.

Only two left, who were completely stunned by the speed at which their friend had been eliminated. Coal's flurry of strikes had pinned Dove to the ceiling of the arena in less than a few seconds of him dashing from the pommel of his embedded blade. The sight of the state of their friend left the remainder of team CRDL struck with both fear and rage.

 _ **Why aren't we killing them?**_

Coal answered his counterpart in a voice which sent a chill down the spines of every person in proximity of the fight but no-one could figure out who he was talking to.

" **Why kill them, when we can show them hell?** "

Coal stepped to his left, just in time to dodge a summersaulting slash from Russel Thrush and his twin daggers and dropped down low to avoid a swinging strike from the mace wielder Cardin. Spinning on the ball of his foot, Coal kicked Cardin hard in the side and forced him away so that he could finish off Russel quickly. Coal thrust his weapon into the boy's side as he come to land just in front of him. Russel was able to dodge however he didn't account for the hidden explosive features that Coal had stored inside the blade. Something which Coal was thankful to Ruby for as he activated the fire dust stored away in the ice with a glyph. The first explosion sent Russel flying back and colliding with another blade which also exploded, sending the boy flying once more into range of another blade. Russel pinballed off another three blades before being launched into the air from the final explosion. The latest explosions were just as gargantuan as the first with the same earth shaking effects and resulting in Russel landing parallel with his teammate in the stands in a similar state. Coal had remained unharmed having used a protective glyph to shield him from the first point blank blast and dropped the spent blade, which was really only a handle at this point, shattering as it hit the floor.

That just left Cardin.

The teen in question looked on in fear at what he was facing. The arena was covered in blades of ice that looked uncannily like gravestones, the eerie mist created by the blades hung like a hollow cloud of death and the fact that the remnants of some unused fire dust had been mixed into the mist, made it look like it was a mist made of blood. Then there were his team mates. Eliminated in merely a few strikes each and sent flying around the arena as if they were toys.

Cardin stared at the shadowed face of his opponent. The Boy who stood facing him slumping forward with his arms dangling down in front of his body. He had no formal fighting stance, in fact he looked rather like a Grimm ready to pounce on easy prey. The boy's hood covered his face in a dark shadow so that Cardin couldn't quite see his eyes, but one thing was for sure. Even though Cardin couldn't see them, he knew that his eyes contained a ravenous hunger. Cardin was face to face with nothing more than a monster.

In the stands, Coal's friends watched on in shock at his display of pure destruction. Wiess' more so than the rest. She had never heard her twin speak like that. Or fight like that. His fighting had always been compared to dancing while collecting and making blades to strike his opponents when they were weakest. But this wasn't anything like that. This was the boy's wrath in full effect. _'It's not him. That can't be him.'_ She prayed as she watched on in horror. When had he become so, so… Malicious.

Pyrrha, who had seen the boys original fighting style, was currently thinking something along the same lines. Yet she couldn't help remember what he had told her the month before at the end of their first mission. How he had been locked away in a mental institution and deemed a monster. Was this what he was talking about?

The rest of the teens looked on just as shocked and horrified. Not able to comprehend that the person they were watching was the same childish prankster that they were used to seeing. Blake's memory dashed back to the moment she saw him kill that man in Frostpoint and was once again questioning which Coal was the real one. The one down in the arena, or the one who she sat with fishing off the pier.

Ruby was terrified. She remembered the look in the boy's eyes when he had ordered her to shoot him on the airship bound for her first mission and matched with the atmosphere he had created below her, she could only be afraid of the person she had helped design such a weapon for. She continued to watch the fight, drawn in by both admiration of his strength and fear of the new persona.

Yang had come to a conclusion that the boy was defiantly someone she did not want to be on the bad side off as she remembered what he had asked on their night out drinking. She knew at that moment, that the boy had defiantly killed before and would easily do it again. She needed to fight him herself to see just how fierce he really was one on one.

Jaune looked on in awe at the boy's strength and power. Thinking maybe if he asked nicely that he would teach him how to fight like that. His friend's strength was beyond what Jaune had predicted. His display of hate and rage coupled with the dark presence the teen gave off was inspiring to him. If he could master that art, then Cardin would fear him rather than the other way around.

Ren showed no emotional change to the display of force. If he was effected at all by what he saw he did well in hiding it.

Nora simply enjoyed watching team CRDL get thrown around, hoping that some legs would be broken in the process.

Coal took a slow step backwards and disapeard in the growing mist that had surrounded the arena floor. Cardin could no longer see the teen. His eyes darting around the area where Coal had just been but he couldn't see him at all though the thick mist. Cardin heard movement to his left and spun around to face Coal, for him only to not be there. Cardin heard more movement behind him this time so turned a full one eighty to be met only by more mist. Coal was toying with him now.

"C-Come out and fight me you pale bastard!" Cardin shouted. Though the fear in his voice was obvious. The only response he got was a low evil laugh emulating from the mist in every direction. Cardin edged forward slowly, keeping his mace raised ready to strike, his eyes scaning the edge of the mist looking for something to hit. Then he saw him. Coal was standing at the very edge of the arena where the mist had parted slightly, giving Cardin the perfect tunnel vison on his mark. But he couldn't move. Cardin was frozen in fear at the sight of the boy's snarling, evil smile.

Coal dashed forward with uncanny speed and pressed his right palm into the unguarded chest of the fear ridden teen and simply lightly pushed him to the ground. Cardin took the chance to look for an escape route to anywhere away from the monster the loomed above him and noticed something incredibly weird about his surroundings… Everything seemed still.

"Look around you Cardin." Coal said in his normal childish tone as he raised his arms gesturing the entire room. "We are separate from everything here. A place where time doesn't truly exist. All because of a fucking glyph." He said as he pointed to the ground under Cardin. When the boy looked at the ground on which his was still sat, he noticed that he was sitting on a golden circle that resembled some kind of weird clock. "In here I can do anything I want."

' _Don't kill him!'_ Coal screamed internally

"No one will be none the wiser." Coal continued unintentionally with a smirk, pulling down his hood so that he could make eye contact with Cardin and pulling out his revolver. It made and audible clicking noise as he pulled back on the hammer of the gun, indicating that he was ready to shoot.

' _Please, don't kill him.'_

 _ **He deserves to die**_

"So, next time that you decide to insult someone, especially one of my friends, I will bring you here…" He growled in a low dark tone. " **I will bring you, straight. To. HELL.** "

' _STOP IT!'_

And with that, Coal lifted his revolver and aimed at the boy's chest. Forcing himself to activate his ice dust, rather than the wind dust which would surely pierce through the boy's aura and kill him instantly, encasing Cardin in a pillar of ice. Cardin would swear to the grave that in those final moments of the fight, while inside the Executioner's timeless void, he had seen a ghostly figure standing behind the boy… A second, ghostly, shadow version of Coal, covered in blood with gleaming, cobalt blue eyes and an evil malicious smirk.

No one had seen his threat. No one had seen him even push Cardin to the ground. No one had seen what Cardin had. All anyone had seen, was Coal zip and breakneck speeds up to Cardin who was a second later enclosed in a coffin of ice. As Coal lowered the gun and placed it back in its holster, he crafted a pole of ice with his other hand and stuck it to the top of Cardin's enclosure, picked it up with uncanny strength and addressed the crowd with a popsicle style Cardin.

"Anyone for a bitch-sicle?" He asked jokingly with his usual childish smile.

Everyone just stared at him with open jaws. No one should be able to do a 180 that quickly. Not after blowing up two people, pinning one to the ceiling and then freezing one. No one seemed to notice that in those last few moments, Coal's aura had dropped by about half of his original value, though he never took a hit during the whole fight.

"What, no one?" Coal shrugged as he threw Cardin in his popsicle form over his shoulder and walked out the arena like nothing was wrong. He knew that he had overdone it during the fight and that he needed to prove that he was still the same person. Sure, it was a weird joke but he hoped it worked none the less.

As soon as he was out of view from the rest of his classmates in the same corridor that he had started in, he lent against the side of the wall and clutched his still ringing head and turned up the volume of his music hoping it would drown out the noise. Pain rushing through his whole body having to half his aura and force it out his body. After an episode like that there was no way that music, fishing or studying was going to help him now. Sure, he had restrained himself enough to not exactly kill team CRDL but he didn't really go easy on them either. They would be fine after a few days in the infirmary and a lot of aura treatment but that wasn't the point. He had let things go too far. What he needed was alcohol… A lot of it.

 _ **We should have just killed them.**_

"Shut up." He pleaded in a quiet voice. His body shaking.

 _ **You need to start to listen to me if we are ever going to kill the ones who hurt us. Who hurt our sister!**_

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

"But I haven't said anything yet…"

Coal rounded instantly to the new voice. It was Ruby. This was the second time now that she had been present when his started yelling at nothing other than his own shadow. Why did it have to be her?

"Ruby… Can you ask everyone to come to my room in about an hour?" He asked timidly.

"Yeah sure, why?"

"I need to explain somethings… About my past. But could you ask Weiss to come straight away, I want her to hear it first."

"Okay." Ruby said somewhat confused as she turned to do just that, leaving Coal alone. Or so she thought anyway. As he walked away still clutching his head, could he ever truly be alone?

* * *

(1 hour later – Coal's Room.)

When teams RBY and JNPR knocked on the boy's room when instructed, they were met with an uncomfortable sight.

Weiss was sat on her brother's bed, rigid and pale. She looked like she had just seen a ghost, starting at the floor with hollow, soulless eyes. What had Coal said to her to put her in this state?

"Please sit down." Coal said having shown his friends in. Once they all had taken seats either on the sofas or on the floor, leaving Weiss alone for the moment, Coal started.

"I haven't exactly been forth coming with you all about who I really am."

"What's up with Weiss?" Ruby inquired about her partner's condition somewhat worried.

"I just told her what I'm about to tell you… It's a long story so if you don't want to hear it then now's your chance to leave. I'd rather just explain it all in one go so please don't bombard me with questions." When no one moved from their spot, Coal sighed. "Well, here goes nothing."

"Growing up wasn't the best time for me and my sister. To really understand a few things, I'll have to go back as far as the day we were born. We were born several weeks early and while I was born fit and healthy, Weiss was not. In fact, she was born barely able to breathe at all. It's common for twins to grow at different rates and Weiss was rather undeveloped when we came into the world. Her bone structure was weak to the point where she could break a leg if she moved to fast and her muscle structure stopped her from walking for the first few years of our lives. She got around using a wheelchair and on her better days and later on growing up, crutches. Her lungs gave her trouble too, she would regularly collapse due to lack of oxygen, similar to what you all saw earlier against Pyrrha. While her body is stronger that it was previously, her lungs and some other organs are still a bit weaker… it's not often that she will collapse like that but there is always going to be that small chance that it will just happen out of nowhere. Doesn't matter what we do, she will always have that."

"Bearing that in mind you have me… Fathers perfect son. Good grades, strong body and all round perfect little boy. I used to spend a lot of time with my sister when we were kids cause I knew she was always wanting to be recognised by our father, I'd spend all my free time outside of lessons and sword practice with her and we would have fun. Eventually I started ditching classes and practice just to hang with her, much to my father's displeasure. I love my sister, we were a team even as kids. She has a lot more common sense than me and I relied on that as a kid and she relied on me to feel like part of the family."

"When we turned ten, Weiss was walking without crutches almost all the time and my farther started taking me on a few hunts to see how far my training was progressing, while he simultaneously tried to force Weiss down the path of a professional singer. She enjoyed singing don't get me wrong, hell I even took up a few instruments and sang a few times with her myself to try and help her with it and encourage her to do so. But she really wanted to train to become a huntress. It's all she's ever wanted to be, whereas my training wasn't really going so well. I could hold my own in a fight, but what our father really wanted was for me to be able to summon… So he hired some scientists. Eventually they came up with the idea that to make me more powerful they could infuse me with dust on a cellular level, to where I can call upon the dust in order to summon creatures of Grimm that I have defeated. It's already a family trait that we can summon but my father wanted me to be the strongest Schnee there ever was. The operation was painful and I had to remain awake so that the bonding process could happen naturally. They managed to form the dust into a summoning glyph which resides on my back. For a time, it didn't make much difference until I was forced into using it around five years ago. Which I'll explain in a second."

Coal stopped to remove his shirt and show his back to the group, calling upon the dust and revealing his brand to his friends. He heard a few audible gasps from a few of them as he turned around and showed them his gleaming blue eyes.

"My eyes change with the dust, it's kind of a side effect to using it. It also lets me see through the eyes of my summoned Grimm. I don't just summon them, I become them. I'm always connected to them and I get my speed and strength from them. I'm faster and stronger than the average hunter because of the dust and I gain a few other things as well. I get their bloodlust and rage which is something I constantly feel, but I also get these gut feeling which I can't really explain, but it's kind of like how an animal will react to an approaching danger… It's how I've survived this long. Another thing you should know is that when I do summon, it feels like I'm tearing my soul in two halves. Summoning shouldn't cause any pain to the caster, at least that's what Winter said, but I feel like it literally is tearing part of my mind and soul out of me and I usually pass out from the pain after a short time. However, the pain never truly goes away. It's always there, my back is constantly being burned by the dust while my aura is constantly healing the cellular damage. It's why my aura will never go back to one hundred percent. When I was younger I struggled with the pain and had to give up on fighting for a time until I got a better control over my aura so that I can actually use it properly again. I have to constantly adjust and manipulate my aura around my body to both heal the damaged cells and also still have my aura shield. If I don't, I can either pass out from the pain or be left defenceless. Because I was basically out of commission my father got even more pissed off. I had gone from my father's perfect son to his biggest mistake, something he never lets me forget." He said deactivating his eyes and redressing. "Are you with me so far?" He got nods in response from everyone, though they all did look relatively shocked. Looking over to his sister who was still on his bed he continued.

"Now comes the hard part. When we were twelve Weiss and I got kid-…" He stopped abruptly and took a long heavy breath, looking down at the ground, continuing timidly. "We had a run in with the White Fang after one of her auditions. We were heading to some dinner that my father had arranged with possible suiters for me seeing as how even I, the biggest fuck up in the family, couldn't possibly fuck up something he would be arranging himself. He needed to continue the Schnee family line after all and I was physically the strongest of our siblings. A series of events that took place at that time led me to killing two of the White Fangs operatives, using my summoned creatures. That was the first time I had ever successfully summoned and the first time I had killed. My body went into shock and I woke up inside of a hospital for the mentally insane, something that I kept hidden even from Weiss... I spent the next six months isolated, pumped with enough drugs and electrocuted to the point of unconsciousness to keep me from moving around at all. It was during that time where I developed my reflex to being waken up, due to the nurses and doctors injecting me with all kinds of stuff during my sleep. I'm not proud of that reflex and I never intend to hurt anyone who does try and wake me… I just can't help it. As to why Weiss can wake me, I can't really explain that either other than putting it down to us being twins. Eventually the doctors managed to slip a collar onto me so that if then needed to inject me with something, they can load me with enough volts to knock me out and do what they needed to do. I spent six months in that routine, alone, until Ironwood rescued me."

"He took me in and taught me how to keep calm. He gave me a job in the military alongside my older sister Winter and gave me a reason to fight. He trained me how to shoot, drive, fly bulkheads and even how to impress the ladies. Not that he was any good at the last part. But he also showed me how to fish, gave me books to read and study and gave me the headset that I always carry. Each was something I could use to keep myself calm, to keep myself as me when I feel the bloodlust building up. I may also blame him for my drinking because he never really left his cabinet locked, but he never stopped me from taking the alcohol. I think he knew that I needed something stronger for when it got really bad… It was during my time with the military that I got my code name, The Executioner. Over the few years I was under the generals command, two crime lords were murdered in cold blood, two clean shots to the head… My calling card against Grimm. Even though their deaths were never connected back to me officially, it was basically common knowledge that I was the one who took them down. No one else killed like I did. Both men were shoot on sight and shoot to kill marks, so when I found them, I followed my orders and did what needed to be done. That was about a year into my training and after the second kill, I relapsed. Badly. Enough to want to return to that same asylum and I condemned myself to another month of their 'therapy' before Ironwood came for me again."

"After that, things kind of fell into place for the next few years. I trained with Ironwood and Winter whilst I worked for the military and I had Weiss to come home to at the weekends I wasn't working. We would hang out, train together and sometimes we would even just sit in our room and sing for a day for old time sake. I was coping well with my bloodlust and rage and I finally felt like I was becoming my old self again. After the White Fang ordeal, Winter and I had convinced farther that Wiess needed to be able to defend herself in case of anything like that happening again. He accepted after much protest and we were even planning to go to Atlas when we were old enough. When the time came, father forbit Weiss from leaving home as he was forcing her into the life of a singer rather than a huntress like she wanted to be. I was so pissed off that I challenged him to a duel. No dust, no semblances or aura, just an all-out honourable duel with traditional swords, first blood wins. I lost and suffered a great deal of pain when he stabbed me through my right shoulder and froze my arm, after breaking our deal of not using dust, just to win. If Weiss hadn't gotten me to a real hospital in time, I probably wouldn't have my arm anymore. My father was so pissed at me for both defying him and being so weak that he exiled me from my home and disowned me from the family. Weiss wasn't too happy about the fight to begin with, but after seeing father cheat and then banish me, she was livid. She hurled enough abuse at him to make even a drunken sailor look like a priest, and slapped the bastard before she stated that she was leaving with me to pursue the life of a huntress like she wanted and would only return when I was taken back in the family. Something that my father had no luck arguing against as she had inherited his stubbornness. We contacted Ironwood to see if there was anywhere else we could go to and he managed to get us a place here, to which we are now caught up with."

"I've been coping with my bloodlust for a while now, but I can feel myself slipping again. It's always there. No matter what I do it will always be there so long as this thing is still on my back. The General and I have been looking into a way of extracting the dust and removing the glyph, but the procedure has a good ninety percent chance that I will die during the operation, never mind recovering from it which is already very unlikely. What you all saw today with Team CRDL was me at my tipping point. How far I can go before I almost lose control and give in to the temptation to kill. Weiss dubbed my fighting style under the name of Cold Redemption as while I set up my so called 'graveyard', another name curtesy of Weiss, I give my opponents a chance to answer for their sins before I pass judgement and kick the living shit out of them. But what I really do is break them mentally... And on occasion physically.

"That's about it. That is pretty much all you need to know about me right now."

Coal had been staring at the floor the whole time he spoke to the group of teen and refused to look up at them for his own sake. He couldn't bear to see the looks on their faces. The faces of his first real friends that were now probably riddled with hate and disgust. So, he got up and left, keeping his eyes fixated on the ground and walked out the door leaving everyone with their thoughts.

Eventually everyone left Weiss alone who remained on her twin's bed motionless and unchanged, and returned to their own beds deep in thought, seeing as they all had to process what was a lot of information about the childish joker of the group. Weiss' mind was still processing what her brother had said. She had never known about his experimentation or his stint in the mental institute and now that it had been voiced, combined with the person she saw fighting team CRDL earlier that day, could she really say that she knew her brother at all. He had hidden such a horrible thing from her for the selfish reason of not trusting her with the information. The image of the person she had looked up to since she was a child came crashing down, along with all her hopes of excelling as an experienced huntress. She didn't ever feel her own tears slide down her cheeks as she cried herself to sleep. Alone and afraid. Just like five years ago, when he never came home after they were kidnapped.

* * *

She awoke in the early hours of the morning, with red eyes and a horrible shiver that was not caused by the cold. She had fallen asleep in her twin's room and expected him to have come back by now, but looking around the dark room she couldn't seem to see him anywhere. Turning on the light, Weiss inspected every inch of the room top to bottom, wondering if he had fallen asleep on one of the couches or something along those lines. But he wasn't anywhere in the room. Maybe he had taken her bed since she had taken his?

Weiss headed into her room to see if she was right only to be proven wrong by the empty bed that lay before her. Perhaps he was still on one of his adventurous excursions. She noticed that her scroll was flashing indicating a message and picked it up to examine it. Only to drop the device upon reading the message that she had received, in another fit of tears, alerting her teammate sin the room.

"Weiss?" Ruby questioned worriedly, jumping down from her bunk. "What's wrong?" Yang also moved in to comfort the girl in any way possible.

Blake looked down at the dropped scroll and picked it up and looked over the message lit up on the screen. Her eyes widened after absorbing it. Tapping her partner on the shoulder, she handed Yang the scroll also who read the message and reacted in a similar fashion to Blake though she was more concerned about the crying girl to focus on the meaning behind the text at the moment. Blake sat back on her bed and pondered what she had just read. The message from Coal that had sent a small pang of guilt through Blake's heart, having basically said something similar herself during her first mission with the boy. Having compared him with her ex.

" _I'm sorry Snow Angel. I'm just as much as a monster as him. And monsters belong in a cage."_

Ruby was still cuddling her crying partner confused at what could have caused her to react like this. Ruby had yet to see the message so she didn't fully understand what was happening at this point. As she pulled away in order to say some words of encouragement to her partner in an attempt to calm her down, she was surprised to see that Weiss' makeup had run due to the number of tears she had shed. What Ruby also noticed was the beneath the layer of running makeup was a deep scar running over the girls left eye.

* * *

A/N

And there you go, there's Coal's past… well almost all of it. haha I'm such a prick aren't I. I don't intend this fic to be all light and breezy, but after seeing Weiss' father in S4, I immediately thought of him experimenting on his kids just for power.

I've used a lot of leeway with Glyphs and summons in this fic but it's never really too detailed in the anime anyway so deal with it, this is AU.

And I don't think I mentioned this earlier in the fic, that was my bad but Weiss has also been hiding her scar. I don't remember making any references to it so my bad there guys.

A little bit about Coals new gauntlet

Hephaestus:

Carbon-steel alloy gauntlet / armour

The gauntlet will be hidden by the sleeve of his coat so that it appears that he conjures swords from thin air. The gauntlet has Two slots which can store dust cartridges big enough to destroy a good portion of Beacon if it were to all go off at once. Coal will typically store Ice dust and fire dust in each of the slots. Due to the amount of dust the gauntlet contains he will never rarely need to reload it during a fight. The dust is ejected through 2 small ports at the base of the gauntlet under his palm, one for each type of dust, in a small stream which can be adjusted by a small valve which is controlled by Coal's aura. This takes a lot of aura control and manipulation which is deemed an overly complex and useless way of fighting by General Ironwood when the original gauntlet and fighting style were designed. Coal must also wear a custom designed black leather glove which is infused with dust in the form of a glyph to speed up the rate which he can forge swords. The glove also stops his hand from freezing up in ice.

The swords he will typically create are known as estocs. A long thin piercing blade that has little to no cutting edge so slashing is not typically used when using these types of blades. The outside of the blade is made purely from ice and has a small central gap where fire dust can be stored down the length of the blade which produces the explosions when activated.

Design; Coal black metal with a single white stripe running down its centre similar in design to Yang's ember celica.

Creator: Coal and Ruby Rose

Designer: Ruby Rose


	16. Chapter 16

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

WOW this chapter was a bitch to write. Though I don't regret anything I wrote. I actually love this chapter though the amount of times it has changed while I've been writing it have annoyed me beyond belief. Seriously I had this all ready to go when I uploaded chapter 15 and since then I've pulled an all-nighter constantly rewriting this damn chapter because I either didn't like it or felt like I could do better. I didn't want to miss my deadline so I hope you guys enjoy my hard work.

As of right now the poll for Coal's pairing is also officially closed and that the winner is none other than… Well if you actually give a shit, I'll keep the poll result on my page for about a week before I get rid of it. I'm kind of looking forward to writing an emotional Coal as well as his dark side at the same time. And putting him in awkward situations… I can be such an evil guy when I want to be.

And one more thing.

Big, massive shout out to Lelouch of Zero for his surname for Coal. I hope I done you proud on how Coal come to decide taking it as his name.

Blah Blah Blah I don't own RWBY.

* * *

Chapter 16: A Valiant Acceptance.

The morning after Coal had left Beacon was quiet. Ruby had explained to team JNPR what had transpired after they had all left the room after Coal. Weiss had received a cryptic message from her twin and due to the fact that he still had yet to return, it indicated that he had left and was dealing with personal demons that he needed to resolve. But the biggest question on their minds was who he was comparing himself too. His father seemed like the most obvious figure, Blake had other ideas though.

Weiss had not said a word for the entire day and had even ditched classes all together and stayed locked up in her twin's room. She seemed rather shaken up after hearing such a story about his past that she had never knew, despite claiming to know the boy better than himself sometimes. And after finding out he had left, she was distraught.

Eventually, after 3 days of keeping herself locked in her twin's room, the rest of her team had coaxed her out of bed to go on the field trip organised for the day after. Though she didn't seem to care about the marks, she just seemed to want to pacify her teammates. It was getting late in the evening and each teen had used the time to think about what he had told them about his past. Each coming to their own conclusions about it. Weiss had remained in her twin's room again for the night which got no protest from her friends, she needed her space to be able to come to terms with all that had transpired having been lied to for so long by her twin.

* * *

(Day 1 – Coal)

After hijacking one of the bulkheads at Beacon, Coal made his way straight to the one place where he knew he was welcome. A place where he felt like he deserved to be. The institution that his father had locked him away in all those years ago.

The building was located in an isolated area of the world with no roads that lead up to it. Kept out of prying eyes of the government, this privately-run facility was created for the sole purpose of housing the most insane humans and Faunus criminals and psychopaths the world had known. Picking away at their conscious in order to either cure them, or break them.

Coal was lucky enough to only have to endure six months of the place the first time he was here. His second visit came after a terrifying relapse a year after his discharge where he spent another month behind the reflective glass of his isolated room, with only his other persona to keep him company, before Ironwood found him again.

Walking inside the main recaption of the pristine building, he was hit with a smell of disinfectant and blood. He didn't even notice the receptionist who had picked up a phone and began to urgently speak through it to someone in a terrified voice. Probably because he just waltzes up to the front desk and slammed down his revolver and unequipped his gauntlet and placed it alongside it.

"He's back Sir… I don't know he's just standing there… Yes Sir right away." She said down the speaker before addressing the teen across the counter. "Your room is untouched from the last time you were here Mr. Schnee, I've been instructed to see you to it." She said timidly, making her move to stand up rather slowly.

"No need, I know the way. And it's just Coal." And with that he was off. walking down the white walls of the corridor that led to his room, his prison, his home. As soon as he entered his confinement he sat on his bed and looked directly at the mirrored glass to see himself staring back. Well something that looked like him looked back anyway.

The monster that stared back at him, covered in blood with blue glowing eyes and a dark malicious grin, that Coal would swear he didn't have on his own face at the moment, spoke in a dark voice that rang only inside the boy's head.

 _ **Welcome home**_

* * *

(Forest of Foreverfall. Team JNPR)

The students of Beacon were preparing to set off into the forest for a day of collecting samples for one of the professors at Beacon.

Cardin, who had recovered from his frozen state a few days ago, had started his bullying spree once again as soon as he heard that Coal had disappeared. The red head boy walked up to Jaune and forced a crate for empty glass jars into the boys hands.

"Thanks for offering to help us out Jauney boy."

Jaune looked down at the jars before returning his gaze at his tormenter. Right now, he didn't have the mental patients to deal with Cardin.

"Piss off Cardin." He said as he force the crate back into Cardin's arms and walked off with his team. Leaving Cardin in a pissed off state.

As Jaune walked with his team he asked the question that had plagued everyone's minds the past week. "Do you think he's coming back?"

It took a moment for anyone to answer, but they all agreed on the one response.

"No." Pyrrha said somewhat hurt.

"Unfortunately, I agree with Pyrrha on this one." Ren confirmed.

"Hard to see it I guess." Nora also agreed.

"Come on guys." Jaune said hopefully. "I'm sure he'll be back. He's just… Got some things to work out."

"Jaune just shut up." Pyrrha snapped. "You heard what he said. I'm surprised he was able to remain somewhat human at all after all that."

"Pyrrha is right Jaune." Ren backed up. "After being experimented on, thrown inside an insane asylum, stabbed and almost had his arm dismembered, all by his own farther, that must have left a pretty major scar on the guy."

"He was always so upbeat though." Nora countered.

"But was that just a mask that he wore?" Ren countered again. "He did say that he wasn't very truthful with us from the very start."

The team fell into an uncomfortable silence as they started to gather their samples and complete the task set to them by the professor. Little did they know that they were being watched the whole time by Cardin and his team.

* * *

(Day 2 – Coal)

 _ **You going to say anything?**_

…

 _ **You can't keep denying me Coal. we are the same person after all.**_

"You didn't have to go that far with Cardin." Coal said to his reflection.

 _ **We did what was necessary.**_

"Did you have to try and kill them!"

 _ **They deserved to be punished.**_

"Not like that! Your no better than father. Fuck, your no better than Adam!"

 _ **We are not Adam! We only kill those who deserve to die.**_

"Just shut up."

 _ **You know as well as I do that we need to be strong if we are going to kill Adam**_

"SHUT UP!"

 _ **It's like father said. We are powerful like this.**_

* * *

(Forest of Foreverfall. Team RWBY)

Team RWBY had begun collecting their own samples in a dull silence. Weiss still had yet to say a word to any of her teammates and friends and by this point everyone was starting to grow concerned about the girl's mental state.

Ruby was struggling to come to terms with what had been said the night Coal disappeared, but unlike her partner she had a sibling to rely on.

"Yang, can we talk?" Ruby asked timidly. Getting a nod from her older sister, Ruby and Yang moved away from the rest of their team in order to converse unheard.

"What's up Ruby?" Yang asked somewhat worriedly.

"I just don't understand why he left…" Ruby explained timidly. "I mean, shouldn't he be here with us so that we can help him or something?"

"Maybe he didn't want to be helped." Yang suggested. "He was still hiding something after all."

"What?"

"You remember when he went to talk about the White Fang?" Ruby nodded to her sister. "Well he said that he only had a run in with them, but I'm sure he was going to say something else to begin with. What kind of a run in leads to two people dying anyway?" Ruby cast her gaze towards the ground understanding what her sister was saying. Even after revealing all that, he still didn't trust them with all the information.

"But what if he just couldn't talk about it?" Ruby tried, getting a curious look from her sister. "What if it's too painful for him to remember? Maybe it's still hurting him?"

"You might be reading too much into it Ruby." Yang shrugged as she turned to walk back to her samples. "All I know is that until he comes back, there is only one other person who can answer those questions. And even she didn't know until just the other night. Though one thing does now make a lot more sense..."

"What's that?" Ruby asked. Yang stopped walking to look over her shoulder at her sister. A compassionate understanding look in her eyes as she looked into her sisters silver eyes.

"He asked me once, 'what would I do if someone tried to kill you.' If he killed those two White Fang members to protect Weiss… Then I can understand why he did it."

Yang walked away from her sister to leave her with her thoughts. Ruby stood motionless trying to understand exactly what had transpired during the twin's lives. She understood that he had killed, whether or not to protect his sister still eluded her, but did that make killing right. He even killed two high ranking criminals but she still couldn't justify that as right. Ruby remembered the fight he had against CRDL. Trembling in fear of the memory.

* * *

(Day 3 – Coal)

"Mr Schnee." A low voice came over the speakers of his room. "My name is Doctor Alexander Jacks. I'm here to help cure you like last time. Do you remember me?"

…

"Well I think I can take that as a yes. Now like the previous times you have been here, we are going to have to equip you with a collar which can administer a small electrical charge. Purely in order to ensure the safety of any attendee who needs to administer any treatment of course. Is that understood?"

…

"I'm sure I heard a yes there. Now once these doors open there will be a few security personnel to help with the process of attaching the collar. Please refrain from lashing out Mr. Schnee, it will only make things worse."

The door slid open to reveal a dozen armed guards decked out in riot gear with shields and batons, slowly edging into the room.

Coal whispered pleadingly to his inner self, "Promise me you won't kill them."

 _ **No.**_

Then the guards charged at the helpless boy, whose eyes started glowing blue.

* * *

(Forest of Foreverfall. Team JNPR)

Jaune had separated from his team in a fit of rage. He couldn't believe that his whole team had just damned his best friend at Beacon to wherever he had ran off to. Jaune figured that he had already been through enough, but to also be turned away from what was possibly his last chance at a normal life from the lack of acknowledgement from any of them. But when Coal had told him about taking lives, Jaune only felt fear. For a brief moment, he agreed with his partner… How did he remain human?

"Must have been hard to admit to all that…" Jaune whispered to himself. Coal hadn't even told his twin any of that until just before he himself had heard. Jaune figured that maybe the boy was so strong because he was never given the chance to choose another way of life. He had been forced down one track and made to stay on it in order to survive. Whereas Jaune himself chose this life, he chose to become a hunter and even stole forged documents to get him a place at beacon academy. It was obvious that he was no fighter. That he was really the odd one out.

As Jaune continued to walk away he heard hushed voices coming from one of the bushes and immediately crouched down to conceal his own presence and listened as best he could.

"-Paybacks a bitch."

"Don't you think it's a bit much?"

"Yeah, I mean he did threaten to kill you if you did anything."

"I say we do it. Right Cardin."

' _Cardin?'_ Jaune thought. Just what was that prick up to now. As Jaune shuffled forward to see what he was planning Jaune caught a glimpse of some creates and jars of sap that he and his classmates had been collecting. he heard Cardin continue.

"The bastard needs to pay for what he did to us in the arena. These rapier wasps will send a perfect message."

Jaune grew worried as well as confused as he looked around once more to work out the bullies plan. His eyes grew wide as he noticed down a small hill below them, Weiss and Blake were collecting jars of sap completely oblivious to team CRDL. Jaune saw Cardin stand up clutching one of the jars of sap and prepared to throw it in the direction of Weiss.

' _Come on Jaune! Do something!'_ He inwardly yelled. Only one idea formed in his head and that idea involved his own jar or sap.

* * *

(Day 4 – Coal)

"AAAHHHHHHHH!"

"He is still moving… Up the volts and hit him again!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

"That's more like it. You can administer the aura dampeners now." Doctor Jacks said to his assistant.

As the door to Coal's room unlocked and slid open once again, a single nurse walked into the cell and up to the prone unconscious boy on the floor, injected him with a large amount of chemicals and exited in just a few moments.

"Good. Now wake him up." Doctor Jacks said as the nurse pressed the button on a small remote to send more volts through the boy waking him up in another shocking scream. "Now Mr. Schnee, that wasn't so bad was it? I bet you hardly felt the needle at all." The doctor laughed as he and his assistant exited the room behind the one way glass.

Coal crawled and managed to climb his way back onto his bed to recover. His breathing was shallow and unbalanced. His muscles ached all over due to the electricity and he had the worst headache he had ever had since the day he was kidnapped by the White Fang. He never accounted for the lack of alcohol he would have in his cell. He couldn't remember the last time he had a hangover this bad, or even if he had ever stopped drinking long enough to get hangovers. He would get used to the shocks, but getting used to being sober was a different story.

 _ **You should have let me kill those men who put this thing on us**_

"No one else… Needs to die." Coal managed to force out.

 _ **You really want us to remain weak? I can protect us!**_

"No… We are not weak…" He said as his vision faded into blackness.

* * *

(Forest of Foreverfall. Team RWBY)

Blake and Weiss were sat collecting sap in a very awkward silence. At least for the Faunus girl anyway. She had no idea how to apologise about being the cause of the girl's brother's disappearance, if his message was accurate. As Blake saw Ruby and Yang walk off together, she decided that it was either now or never to confess to the Schnee girl. That she was responsible for all of this.

"Weiss I…"

"Save it Blake." Weiss said. Blake was taken by surprise at the words and tone the girl had used. She sounded exactly like Coal had when he told her the exact same thing, when she tried to explain that she was no longer in the White Fang at the end of their first mission. If he didn't care then maybe Weiss wouldn't care now.

"It's my fault that Coal left."

"I said I don't care Blake."

"Weiss let me finish please."

"NO!" Weiss snapped causing Blake to flinch and back off slightly. "It's not your fault… It's the White Fang's. I should have known that he wasn't alright after what happened." Weiss said quietly, as she turned away from Blake and started to rub her left eye absentmindedly. As soon as she finished she reached into her bag and pulled out a small makeup case and started applying something around the same eye she had been rubbing.

"What did happen?" Blake asked trying to understand why Coal had run off.

"We don't like to talk about it…" Weiss said softly still facing away from the hidden Faunus. "All you do need to know is that the next time I come face to face with anyone part the White Fang. I will make them suffer, just like we did." Her tone darkened at the end. Causing Blake to see a side of the girl that she had never seen, she could be just as dark as her twin and Blake knew there and then that Weiss wouldn't accept her past like Coal had done. She never said a word after that. Weiss broke the silence once more.

"He's coming back."

"What makes you so sure?" Blake asked still somewhat weary of the girl.

"Because he promised he always would. No matter what happened, he could even die and he would still somehow make it back to me." Weiss said confidently as she turned back to face the hidden Faunus, a fire burning in her icy blue eyes. "He never breaks a promise."

* * *

(Day 5 – Coal)

 _ **So when are we planning to leave this place?**_

"When I'm sure that we won't kill anyone other than Adam." Coal said to his reflection.

 _ **We kill anyone who stands in our path.**_

"That is what you want."

 _ **And what is it that you want?**_

"To be free of you two."

 _ **You could at least refer to me by my name. It's not fair that I'm the only one without one.**_

"So, you have a name too?"

 _ **Well you and the other one got your names from your eyes, so why should mine be any different?**_

"So what do I call you?"

 _ **Cobalt.**_

"So Cobalt, what is it that you want?"

 _ **To be free of you.**_

"For once we agree on something."

 _ **Maybe we can make this work. So that both of us get what we desire.**_

"I'm listening."

 _ **Makes a change I guess.**_

"I'm out of options. You're the only one by my side at the moment."

 _ **Then here's what I'm offering…**_

* * *

(Forest of Foreverfall. Team JNPR)

"Is Jaune mad at us?" Nora asked after being ditched by their team leader.

"No Nora." Ren assured. "He's just having a hard time accepting it all. Like all of us."

"But Coal never did anything wrong. He only kept it to himself because he probably though that we would react badly to hearing it all. Which is exactly what happened!" Nora protested knowingly, surprising both Ren and Pyrrha from her insight.

"That may be." Pyrrha started. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that he basically isn't human anymore." Having finally given up on the boy and his darkness. Truth be told she had softly cried herself to sleep, clutching the plushy that he had given her on their trip to the arcade, the night she had found out Coal had left, unbeknownst to her teammates.

"Because no one is there to help him!" Nora yelled. She had grown tired of her friends stupidity. "When you've got no family to turn to then you turn to your friends. That is how me and Ren have survived this long. Yes, he had Weiss but do you really think he could put all of this on his twin's shoulders when she was obviously struggling with her own faults? Seriously you are all being idiots, he cares to much about his sister so he was only trying to protect her." She looked at Ren and continued. "We all have secrets we would rather keep buried, but those secrets are still apart of us. I don't care about what he had to do to survive, we have done some pretty bad things ourselves Ren, so who are we to judge."

Ren and Pyrrha locked eyes for a moment before bowing their heads in shame. Ren knew that his childhood friend was right. Who was he to judge on the actions of a survivor. If things had been slightly different, maybe he would have become someone similar. Pyrrha was disgusted with herself for even giving up on Coal at all. He didn't seem to be able to talk to anyone about it when it happened so he had resorted to keeping it bottled up inside himself for so long that eventually he was unable to tell anyone at all. Pyrrha thought back to the moment she first found out about his father's experiments on him and couldn't help but realised that when he was trembling in her arms, he wasn't trembling out of fear, he was shaking because he was forcing himself to tell her. it hurt him more to tell her then the memory itself. No wonder he only revealed anything when she asked him about it. He never wanted anyone to know. How much pain must he had he been in to finally tell them all about his past?

"You know Nora." Pyrrha said. "You really do like to speak your mind don't you."

"Yep!" Nora agreed with a cheesy grin. Ren continued.

"She is right though, we never really considered what he was feeling at all." Ren added.

Pyrrha couldn't help but agree. In hindsight she should have followed him and made sure he was alright rather than just letting him wonder off. Just like she had let Jaune walk off a few moments ago…

"I'm going to find Jaune." She said as she made for the direction her partner had left in. she was worried to say the least. She was not going to risk losing any more friends. Not because of this.

* * *

(Day 6 – Coal)

A bulkhead landed just outside the hospital where the boy was staying. Two figures, a man and a woman, exited the airship and made straight for the front entrance with a fast, determined pace. Upon entering the building the two were immediately approached by several armed security guards to which the man pulled out a silver handgun and shot them all in the kneecaps, pinning them all to the ground and proceeded to point his weapon straight at the receptionist.

"I take it he's in the same room?" General Ironwood questioned darkly. The young receptionist merely nodded having been scared almost to death at the return of the general and his associate. The last time they came to retrieve the boy in question, the hospital ended up with a few more patients. "Go ahead Winter, I'll keep things covered here."

"Thank you General." Winter Schnee said as she made her way down the corridor to where she knew her brother would be. She was pissed at herself for only finding out that he had come back to this place six days ago, she should have kept a closer eye on him. She figured that his twin would be able to keep him in check but she was wrong. She entered the observation room first so that she could see the state of her younger sibling before revealing herself to him. After literally kicking down the door to the boy's room last time she had almost be killed herself due to waking the boy from his slumber.

She looked through the one way glass to see her sibling sitting on his bed facing the glass looking at his own reflection in silence, emotionless. Winter immediate proceeded into drawing her sword and slashing straight through the glass and stepping though the now open space. Sheathing her sword she addressed her brother like she would any other day.

"Coal." She stated in a militaristic fashion.

…

Sighing, Winter knew that he was in the worst position he had been in since he had first been taken out of this place five years ago. He hadn't even moved a muscle at her smashing the glass and speaking to him in her usual tone, hadn't gotten his typical reaction to seeing her. Knowing that, she knew she needed to use a different approach if she was going to help the boy.

In the most kind and sisterly tone she could manage, she wasn't used to using it, she tried again.

"Valiant"

Coal's eyes softened slightly as they recognised his older sister. Winter took this moment to move over to the bed and sit beside the troubled boy.

"You know I don't deserve that name Frostbite." Coal said in a timid voice, casting his eyes back down.

"Of course, you do. Why would you think otherwise?" Winter asked still using her kind tone.

"Weiss knows everything… They all do. Teams RWBY and JNPR." He stated as he shifted his gazed to a broken piece of the mirrored glass, seeing only his other side as the reflection. "Once they knew they didn't see me as me. They only saw the monster."

"You're not a monster, Valiant."

" **Then what are we!"** Coal Yelled, his eyes flashing blue, yet his sister didn't flinch.

Taking a deep breath Winter calmly wrapped her arms around the boy who started shaking and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"You are you. That's all you've ever been. Since the day you were born you've been looking out for Weiss, done everything you can to make sure she is happy, even at the cost of your own happiness. And it's not just Weiss you sacrificed yourself for… When you became a soldier you always took the harder hits to make sure others stayed alive. Even when someone didn't make it, no one took their deaths harder than you and you pushed yourself to be stronger for the next fight. You want to know who you are? You're my brother, my brave little soldier. My Coal Valiant."

Coal's shaking only increased when Winter used his nickname. He only ever got called Valiant when she was in a good mood, which was very rare indeed. He couldn't take it anymore.

"We're none of those things. Just let us go. It'll be easier that way… **We can only bring** … **Suffering**." He whispered, though Winter could still hear him.

"You have always been those things and you always will be and you never caused any suffering to me or Weiss, and I doubt you caused any of your teammates it either. You are too thick headed to change who you are. But that isn't a bad thing Coal… I love who you are and who you have become little brother. You call yourself a monster yet that is not what I see. I only see my brother standing against anyone who would do the people he cares about harm. You have a strength that few people have in this world. The strength to die fighting against those who would dare touch your loved ones and still rise again to protect them. That is what makes you who you are Valiant. That is why you deserve that name." Coal's shaking continued, Winter knew that his silence meant that she was getting through to him when he couldn't make a comeback. "Let it out Valiant… You've kept it in long enough."

And let it out he did. It started with small whimpering sounds that evolved into a soft sob. Before long he was screaming, crying out and lashing out into the chest of his older sister, releasing 17 years' worth of bottled up tears and emotions. Winter knew for a fact that this was the first time he had shed a single tear throughout his whole life, the first time he had cried at all. He screamed and thrashed about for a solid 20 minutes before eventually crying himself to sleep in his sisters arms. Winter had taken all his abuse from his body's outburst and had wiped away every bit of the waterfall of tears that he produced during that time. She had expected to receive a few bruises when she came to collect her brother, but not this way. She had never seen her brother so vulnerable. She would make sure that he would never need to feel like this again as she smiled down at the peaceful expression on her sleeping brother's face. The most peaceful sleep he had probably had in years.

"It doesn't matter who you were Coal." Winter said as she brushed a strand of black hair from her brother's face. "It only matters who you are." Winter noticed her brother crack a very small yet soft smile in his sleep. He had heard her.

* * *

(Forest of Foreverfall - Jaune)

' _Come on Jaune! Do something!'_ he inwardly yelled. Only one idea formed in his head and that idea involved his own jar or sap.

Jaune took aim at the ginger bully and threw his jar hard. Smashing the glass against the boys chest plate. Cardin looked down at the sap stain and grew a malicious smirk looking back at the person who threw it.

"Hey Jauney boy. That wasn't a very nice thing to do." He said as he started walking towards Jaune. The blond knight could only back away in both fear and regret of his actions. "Someone needs to be taught a lesson." Cardin smirks as he prepared a fist to strike the blond teen. Which landed hard.

Cardin continued to smack Jaune around, much to the amusement of his own teammates who just stood off to the side and laughed at the spectacle. Cardin, like his teammates was also laughing the whole time as by the time he let up on the blond, Jaune was bleeding from both his nose and lip and also had a rather swollen right eye. Doubled over in pain on his knees, Jaune caught his breath and managed to climb back to his feet, spat out some blood from his mouth, and stared Cardin down.

"I… Won't let you… Hurt them…" He promised in a hollow tone due to his pain. Only to get sucker punched in the gut once more and fall back to his knees.

"You can't even protect yourself." Cardin laughed. "You really think you can protect them? Who the hell do you think you are!" He yelled as he kicked the downed boy and continued his onslaught. Once again getting a round of laughter from his team.

GRRRRR~

Cardin stopped his beat down and looked to his left at the bushes to see a pair of crimson red eyes behind the amber leaves. Out of the forest emerged a large Ursa major, and it looked hungry.

Immediately team CRDL began to run away screaming in fear at the sight of the beast, unfortunately for Cardin, being the closest meal to the beast, got cut off and took a hard slash to the side. Thankful that his Aura took most of the hit, Cardin started to crawl away as quickly as he could manage in an attempt to escape the beast's next downward slash.

But he was protected, by none other than Jaune.

Jaune reacted on instinct and raised his shield above his head in order to protect his tormentor. It didn't matter who it was, it was a knight's job to protect those who can't protect themselves. Just like the hero's he was told stories about, just like his grandfather and just like Coal had done for his twin. Jaune swore in that moment that he would become strong enough to stand in front of those who needed protection, take the hits that were intended for them and no matter how close he was to death, he would stand up once again with his shield raised in defiance to those that would hurt the innocent and to swing his sword at those who deserved it.

Jaune thrusted he shield forward and pushed the beast back, standing back to his feet and setting his stance, Jaune began a series of wild strikes and slashes which cut deep into the flesh of the Grimm. Once the beast recovered from its stunned state, it made to swipe at the boy who had caused it pain, its hunger deepened.

Jaune saw the strike coming and raised his shield once more to deflect the swipe from the gargantuan creature. Directing the creature's blocked arm downward and away from himself, Jaune used the momentum he created to follow through in a spin and strike at the beast's falling form. Cutting its head clean off in a swift strike.

Jaune flicked his sword, ridding it of the black gunk that was the remnants of the Ursa and spoke in a dark voice that he himself didn't think he could use. He had only heard his friend use it a few times but he had learned the impact it had and sought to utilise it himself.

"Do what you want to me… I don't care what happens to me… But if you try and hurt my friends or anyone else for that matter." Jaune rounded and held the tip of his sword flush with Cardin's neck who was paralyzed with fear from both the Grimm and now the knight. "I will kill you."

Pyrrha watched from the shadows of the bushes close by. She thought that she would have to intervene at some point when she found Jaune defending against the Grimm looking very battered and bruised, but he had killed the beast all by himself without her assistance. She knew that he needed the confidence boost and after what had transpired here she knew that Jaune would be feeling a lot better. If necessary, she would have used her semblance to assist the knight.

One thing she did observe as Jaune began to walk away from the still paralyzed Cardin was that Jaune was serious about his statement to Cardin. Jaune had a heart just like her rivals, they both wanted to protect everyone no matter the cost. But there was several differences between the two boys. Jaune wasn't plagued by a darkness that was brought about through pain and despair. Coal was gone, he had left in order to go to who knows where in order to either escape from himself or to protect his friends from himself. Pyrrha didn't really know the true answer to that part. The last and final difference, was that Pyrrha thought that Jaune had a much tighter ass. She enjoyed the sight of her partner walking away more than she should have.

* * *

(Airship - Coal)

After being discharged once again from the hospital, Coal had been taken to an airship where he would be transported back to Beacon. He was forced into a clean bedroom which also had a small bathroom connected to it with a shower and been ordered by his older sibling to take a good scrubbing. He hadn't showered since he had admitted himself to his prison so he quickly agreed.

Coal stood facing the mirror inside the bathroom starting at his reflection. Taking long and deep breathes he knew he needed to do something that he used to avoid doing for a long time. Taking one more final breath he stood up straight and called upon his semblance, creating a time dilation glyph beneath his feet and entered his timeless void. A place where he was isolated from everything, except for himself. Both sides of himself. As soon as Coal stepped into his void, Cobalt appeared in the mirrors reflection also, standing just behind his original. Coal turned to finally speak face to face with his other half for the first time in a long while.

It had been years since the two had conversed like this. Yet something was clearly different. For the last five years Cobalt, his second persona, had always reflected himself. The major difference was that he had glowing blue eyes and was usually covered in the blood of his victims. Now though, Cobalt wore a black hooded trench coat which was similar in design to Coal's. the rest of his attire also matched Coal's and he even donned the Schnee brand of the back of the coat, though it was white. He really was the boys true reflection with the reverse colour scheme. Yet there was no blood. For the first time in years Coal was able to look at himself without seeing the cloak of blood. A sight which made him truly happy.

" **You know this isn't part of the plan Coal."** Cobalt said.

"I know… But Please, let us have this. Let us be the person who she sees us as. For her and for Weiss, let us be their Coal Valiant."

Taking a deep sigh Cobalt answered.

" **Alright. For the sake of our sisters, I will remain dormant as well so that you can play house with those fools you deem as friends. But when the time comes, we stick with the plan."**

"I promise." Coal assured his counterpart. "You know we don't break promises right. This plan of yours better work Cobalt. It's already a pain splitting my soul to summon, never mind what you have planned."

" **I know. Least we can say for sure who we are now."** Cobalt replied as the two shared a quick fist bump. Coal grew an evil grin while his counterpart grew a childish smirk.

"Of course we can… **We are Coal Valiant."** They both said at the same time with determination. Silently promising each other to remain true to themselves.

Coal deactivated his glyph and immediately headed for the shower, stripping in the process and grabbing a bottle of dye remover. He did promise his twin that he would always come back, even if he died in a fiery explosion, he would somehow make it back. This time, he would be a changed man. He needed to be.

Coal felt for the first time in five years, that he was finally on the right path to becoming whole...

 _ **HUNGRY**_

* * *

A/N

I know what some of you are thinking. How the fuck can there be two Coals? Well basically it's all to do with his glyph on his back. It's a gateway to his summoned Grimm and monsters which he subconsciously relies on. The pain it causes him leaves him so delusional that he imagines Cobalt as though he was really there inside the timeless void with him. The only reason Cardin was also able to see Cobalt at the end of their fight was because of Coal's mind being at war with itself about killing Cardin, thus he subconsciously split his aura into two halves, one as the original Coal and the other Cobalt, who had merged with the mist and left over dust around the glyph to basically appear as a ghostly figure to Cardin's eyes. Coal and Cobalt are the same person yet different at the same time. They survive inside the same vessel yet neither is in full control at any one time which results in a mass of headaches and pains on the original Coal's body and Cobalt's voice as a ringing in his own head which his delusions translate into actual words. However that does not mean the Cobalt doesn't truly exist…

Cobalt is a part of Coal. a side to him that was brought about from his past experiences. The part of him that will shut off all other emotions in order to survive and also punish those who he deems necessary. Cobalt is not a second soul. He is other half of Coal's soul that was split since childhood.

By the way did anyone get my little reference?

Dr Alexander Jacks

Dr A. Jacks

Ajax - Deadpool

HA! I crack myself up.

Please review. I want to know what you guys think so far. If there's something you either want to see or think I can do better at. please let me know. I'm still learning here so let me know how I can improve.

BYE! BYE!


	17. Chapter 17

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

So, this chapter will be mostly cannon with a few alterations. Thank you so much to those who have favourited, followed and reviewed this fic. I love you all! I have been a bit ill this last week and all the kindness you guys have shown this fic is what gave me the strength to actually finish this chapter on time.

Pay close attention to Weiss this chapter. It is not just Coal who is still suffering from what happened as this chapter will explain. She also knows more that she is letting on.

While this chapter is a major cannon I do not want to rewrite things scene for scene… this is going to be a rare exception but I liked this part of the amine a lot and it holds a lot of relevance to how I want this fic to go.

Also, we get introduced to Sun who, at this point in the anime I know that cause I watched the damn thing over and over and over again whilst I write the fic, has dark grey eyes in the first few seasons of the anime and now his eyes are bright blue… can someone please explain why the changed was made cause I don't get it. but ill stick to whatever RT have done at that point.

Don't own RWBY.

* * *

Chapter 17: Together, We Are Still Alone.

It had been ten days since Coal left. In that time Weiss had returned to her old self… Much to the annoyance of her teammates. Everyday they had gone down to the docks to see if her twin had returned to only find out what everyone would already have known. He hadn't come back.

Today was no exception.

Weiss lead her team through the streets of Vale while the townsfolk set up the decorations for the welcome party the city was to throw for its new arrivals. Beacon academy was to host a tournament between the four schools across the world of remnant, as well as a festival as a source of entertainment throughout the kingdoms. Arrivals from the other schools were expected any day now.

"The Vytal Festival!" Weiss proclaimed as she stopped to examine some of the street decor. "Oh this is absolutely wonderful!"

I Don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss." Ruby stated. Which was true in fact as the Schnee girl hadn't been quite herself recently with the absence of her twin. "It's kind of weirding me out."

"How could you not smile?" Wiess asked her partner. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breath taking!" She eagerly cheered, starting walk once more leading her team to the docks.

You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang huffed from behind the girl.

"Quiet you!"

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks… Again?" Yang questioned rhetorically. It was pretty obvious why they were here yet again.

"Ugh. They smell like fish!" Ruby said as she covered her nose.

"I've heard that students visiting form Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine Kingdom." Weiss stated proudly. Yet this didn't convince her teammates.

"Weiss he isn't here." Ruby announced having scanned the passengers of the boat that had docked a few moments before they all arrived.

"Who said I was here to see for that!" Wiess tried to argue though it did nothing to convince her friends. "Maybe I'm here to spy on the competition!"

"It's plausible… But not true." Blake Joked.

Ruby turned away from the rest of her team and began walking down a different street. The sight of a busted up dust shop had caught her eye. Her sister beckoned for the rest of them to follow.

When Ruby approached the scene, she asked one of the detectives who was writing down something on his scroll. "What happened?"

"Robbery." The detective answered looking up from his notes. "Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."

"Ah, that's terrible." Yang sighed. the string of criminal acts in the city was once again on the up rise. But attention soon turned back to the detectives when one of them spoke up rather loudly.

"They left all the money again."

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much dust?"

"I dunno. An army?"

"You thinking the uh, White Fang?"

"Yeah I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"Fucking filthy Faunus bastards." Everyone turned their head to look at the person who just uttered the words of pure hate and disgust. The words that Weiss had said. "What?" she questioned shrugging at her teammates confused at the stares.

"What's your problem?" Blake questioned somewhat annoyed at the racism.

"My problem?" Wiess countered turning Blake with an angry look on her face. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"Then what does that make Coal?" Yang questioned quietly to her sister so that Weiss couldn't hear. Despite the amount of time he had been gone, there were still too many questions that he had left unanswered for Yang to be happy about.

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake defended. "They are a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided?" Weiss questioned with doubt. "They want to wipe humanity of the face of the planet!"

"So, then they're _very_ misguided! Either way it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Blake's got a point Weiss." Ruby stated placing a hand on the angered girls shoulder. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him?"

Weiss shrugged her partner off quickly. "That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, steal and murder!"

"That's not necessarily true." Yang tried.

"HEY STOP THAT FAUNUS!" a voice shouted from behind them as if on cue. The girls all ran back down to the docks to find a blond monkey Faunus running from two humans on one of the ships.

"Thanks for the ride guys! He said as he hopped over the railings of the boat and landed on the pier where he continued to run and jump away.

"You no good stowaway!" one of the humans shouted after him.

Hanging from a lamppost by his tail, the Faunus boy produced a banana seemingly from nowhere and began to peel it while countering. "Hey! a no good stowaway would have been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" he proclaimed dodging a rock that was thrown at him from below him.

"Hey!" One of the police officers from earlier said as they arrived at the scene. "Get down from there this instant!" he demanded only to get a banana peel in the face as a response.

The monkey Faunus then jumped away from the humans, laughing evilly as he went, and raced up towards the city in hopes of a quick escape. Running past team RWBY as he went, sending Blake a sly wink. Leaving the Faunus girl stunned. His eyes were a dull charcoal grey, almost the same shade as her favourite human's.

"Well Weiss, if you did want to spy on the competition, then there it goes." Yang joked as she looked at where the Faunus had ran followed by the officers.

"Quick we have to capture, I mean observe him!" Wiess shouted chasing after the Faunus, followed quickly at her heals was the rest of her team. Though Blake did hang back slightly having been reminded of someone.

As Weiss chased the trio around a corner she slammed straight into another person causing them both to fall and hit the ground. Looking up, Weiss watched the monkey Faunus leap away out of sight.

"NO! He got away!" She yelled frustrated.

"Uh… Weiss…" Yang stuttered pointing to the creepily grinning person that Weiss was still sitting on top of, causing the Schnee to become startled and quickly jump back to her feet trying to get away.

"SAL U TATION!" the ginger haired girl loudly said with the still creepy grin of her face.

"Uh… Hello." Ruby replied.

"Are you ok?" Yang asked politely, yet she was also slightly creeped out at the still prone girl.

"I'm wonderful!" she replied. "Thank you for asking."

All the members of Team RWBY looked to one another before Yang once again asked the most obvious thing. "Do you want to get up?"

After a brief moment to ponder the question, the prone girl nodded and simply said. "Yes!" And with that she sprang to her feet with ease. Everyone else immediately took a long step backwards away from the weird girl. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!" the now name penny informed.

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Blake elbowed her partner in the gut, hard. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"So your Weiss!" Penny said pointing to the white themed girl. "Your boyfriend Coal's baby sis!"

"Boyfriend?" Blake questioned.

"Coal?" Yang questioned.

"Baby sis?" Ruby questioned, she just wanted to continue the sentence along.

"Since when does my brother have a girlfriend?" Weiss questioned rather loudly.

"Well he is a boy and he is my friend. Thus boy-friend." Penny simply stated. Getting mixed reactions from the group.

Ruby just simply shrugged at the girls logic thinking it was sound.

Yang just looked even more confused and was now thinking that she had hit her head at some point for this to seem real.

Weiss let out a heavy sigh relived that her brother wasn't dating such a weirdo.

Blake seemed rather passive, about the situation having hid her own sigh of relief rather well, though she didn't understand why she was relived at the explanation.

"Well…" Weiss started. "Do you know where he is?"

"Nope."

"Oh… I'm sorry for running into you." Weiss said casting her eyes downward and turned to walk away. Yet another lead down the drain.

The rest of the girls followed suit as Ruby waved to Penny and bid her goodbyes. "Take care friend."

"She was weird." Yang stated as they all walked further down the street.

"Now where did that Faunus riffraff run off to?" Weiss questioned out loud. She had to know for sure that he brother wasn't taken by the White Fang and that Faunus was the closest thing to them… besides Blake of course. Weiss stopped walking as she caught sight of Penny standing directly in front of her. how the girl got there was beyond confusing.

"What did you call me?" Penny asked. Weiss pointed to the spot where Penny had just been, her eyes darting back and forward between the two locations as Yang tried to explain herself.

"I'm really sorry! I definitely didn't think you heard me."

"No. Not you." Penny said as she walked up to Ruby. "You…"

"Me?" Ruby questioned.

"Yeah you."

"Uh, I don't know I – "

"You called me friend. Am I really your friend?" Penny asked hopefully. Ruby pondered the question and looked towards her friends for help, who were shaking their heads silently whilst also indicating several different ways of saying no.

"Yeah sure. Why not."

Weiss, Blake and Yang all fell backwards in sync.

Penny grew a wide childish grin as she threw her arms in the air in celebration having increased her friend count.

"Sensational!" she cheered. "We can paint our nails, try on clothes and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby groaned as her partner stood back up, dusting herself off. "Is this what it was like when you met me?"

Weiss simply said. "No, she seems far more coordinated." Though her weirdness did seem like something her brother would find funny. Suddenly it seemed like Penny didn't seem so weird after all if she was linked to her twin.

"So," Yang said trying to move things along. "What are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!" Penny announced proudly. Weiss sounded disbelieving.

"Wait you're fighting in the tournament?"

Penny gave a salute "I'm combat ready!"

"Forgive me but you hardly look the part."

Blake deadpanned. "Says the girl wearing a dress."

"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss proudly argued, getting back up from her partner with a shout in agreement and a low five. "Wait a minute… if you're here for the tournament does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?" she asked shaking Penny by the shoulders.

The who?"

Weiss held up a poorly drawn picture of the Faunus boy she had seen earlier for the girl. "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

"Why do you keep saying that!" Blake yelled showing a slight bit of anger. "Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

Weiss looked towards the hidden Faunus girl on the team, having finally gotten a reaction from her. 'About damn time Blake… I know Coal trusts you be let's see who you really are.' Weiss inwardly plotted before she spoke. "Oh, I'm sorry… Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamp post as a lamp post?"

Blake grew even more angry. "STOP IT!" she yelled furiously. Only getting a smirk of victory from the Schnee girl, having finally pushed her buttons enough that Blake was now voicing her opinions. Something that everyone knew she normally kept to herself.

"Stop what?" Weiss shrugged. "He broke the law. Give him time and he'll probably join up with the rest of those White Fang psychos."

"Ugh you ignorant little brat!" Blake shouted again. So, it was true, Weiss wouldn't accept her like her twin had. Blake realised that the twins who were that close couldn't be more different in many different ways.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Weiss retorted.

And thus, a very long argument began.

* * *

(Later that evening.)

Weiss was beyond annoyed and had even started arguing with Blake about Faunus and the White Fang. Blake accused the Schnee of being discriminatory and single minded about the Faunus population while Weiss accused all Faunus of being criminals and psychopaths. Needless to say this argument had been going on for a while. And it had yet to settle. Exactly what Weiss wanted.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem."

"That is the problem."

"You realise you are defending an organisation that hates humanity don't you. The Faunus of the white fang are pure evil."

"There's no such thing as pure evil. Why do you think they hate humanity so much. Because of people like Cardin… People like you, that force the white fang to take drastic measures!"

"Measures like kidnapping and torturing children!"

This shut Blake up.

Weiss took a deep breath and walked over to her bedside draw under the window, opening it and pulling out a bag of makeup wipes.

"You want to know why I hate the Faunus so much?" she asked rhetorically as she rubbed at her left eye with the wet cloth. "Coal already said that we had a run in with them five years ago. he neglected to share why because it still haunts him... still haunts us. On our way back from the audition, our car was run off the road and we were both knocked unconscious. When we woke up we were both strapped to chairs while some members of the white fang talked to father about arranging payment for my release, which father agreed to almost immediately. Thing is, then never mentioned anything about my brother…"

Weiss turned to look Blake dead in the eyes, revealing her scarred eye to her team.

"They spent the next few hours dragging their claws across his chest and back. Slowly and painfully. They made me watch, made me watch as they sliced my twin brother to pieces letting him bleed out almost to death right in front of my eyes. I listened to him scream for hours at the pain and no matter how much I closed my eyes to try and escape that nightmare, I still see him covered in blood limp and lifeless… I don't even know how long they tortured him for as I eventually got knocked out by one of the Faunus because my screaming was irritating them. That's how I got this." She finished pointing to her own scar. "Next thing I know I'm waking up at home in my own bed being told that Coal was recovering in an intensive care unit and I would be told when he was ready to come home. Which I now know is all a lie as he was locked away in some sort of psychiatric prison and tortured some more. All because of the Faunus."

"You want to know what I think of the Faunus Blake? You really want to know? I want to see them all burn in my brother's graveyard a thousand times over before I even get my hands on them. So Blake, can you really argue the fact, that the White Fang are all murderous psychopaths!"

"Maybe we were tired of being pushed around!" Blake yelled furiously. A repressed anger and hate finally showing. Blake immediately stood and ran out of the room, she wanted to get away from the scene before she made things any worse.

"Blake!" Yang shouted after her.

"Let her go." Weiss said as she turned and looked out the window once more.

Ruby looked at the ground, still coming to grips with what her partner had said. "Those scars… They are from back then?" She questioned timidly, referring to the scared skin of the boy.

"Yeah… every single one." Weiss said emotionlessly as she reapplied her makeup. She had found out exactly what she wanted to know. _'Damn it Coal… Why do you trust her so much?'_ she thought.

* * *

Blake stopped running when she reached the statue in Beacons courtyard. She couldn't believe that she had just said that. She sided with the White Fang at the end despite now knowing just how much they had put the siblings through. It was the White Fangs fault that they were so traumatised. Weiss had done a great job in hiding her pain and while Coal had been able to hide it somewhat, the rage had finally shown itself against Cardin. The rage that the White Fang, an organisation that at one point Blake would have died to protect, had created.

Blake looked at the statue in front of her and saw the two hunters standing atop a monster. An image she compared to herself. Humans would always stand above the Faunus no matter how hard they tried to bring about peace. And now her teammates would probably act the same way with her. she was a monster herself after all. The way Adam had played her had left her with enough rage to want to kill herself given the right target.

Blake thought back to the day she had seen Coal kill that man in Frostpoint. How she had held her own gun at the back of his head with intent to pull the trigger. He had even stood there with his arms held wide as if ready to accept death if she were to give it to him. And she wanted to give it to him then. She really wanted to kill him then.

She reached for the bow on her head and ripped it off, pulling some of her hair with it. she didn't care anymore. If people would see her as a monster then she may as well look like one.

"I knew you would look better without the bow." Blake rounded at the new voice to see a monkey Faunus, the one who Weiss had seen and initiated the argument about. Blake growled angrily before leaping away, vanishing in the shadows cast by the moonlight.

The monkey Faunus made to go after her before being stopped by a hand that had appeared on his shoulder. "It's okay. I'll go after her." a soft voice said.

"And who the hell are you?" the Faunus demanded. Only to gasp at the person he saw. "Oh shit…"

"I'm a friend of hers."

* * *

Blake kept running with no purpose or direction. She just needed to get away from it all. Away from Beacon, away from the anger and especially away from Weiss. Her anger had been redirected towards herself for having blurted out something which she never wanted to be known to anyone. The only person who had known about her past was Coal and he was not here. Lost on his own path.

Blake came to a stop at what was once her favourite place in all of Vale. The pier that she and Coal would sit at and escape reality. She hadn't been back here since he left, so why was she here now? She just stood and looked out towards the moonlit waters, cursing herself for being so foolish about ever thinking that her past would be kept a secret from anyone at Beacon. She was part of a terrorist organisation after all and that wouldn't have gone down too well with anyone… anyone but Coal. why had he so easily accepted her after her organisation, which she had been a part of since a small child, had tortured him almost to death. She felt responsible for all the pain and suffering the twins had gone through because of it. she hated everything about herself right now. How could she not have known about that, it happened while she was part of the Fang so she should have known about it. and if she never knew about that, then what else had the White Fang done under her nose.

She stood at the end of the pier looking out at the moonlit water wishing for only one thing… to go back to the times she sat with the human, reading while he fished, and just be herself.

She missed it. just being herself for the first time around anyone other than her own family had brought back a feeling of longing that she had not felt since she first met Adam. Coal had accepted not only her Faunus side but also her history with the White Fang. But why? After everything that he had been through, he had accepted her so quickly. It confused her, yet also made her happy at the same time. He had been able to pull her out of her dark hole that Adam had dug and gave her a new reason to open up again. But now, he was gone. His sister hated her. Ruby and Yang probably hated her. all Blake wanted was to sit against his back one last time, listening to the waves as he patiently waited for their meal to bite on the hook while she read one of her books.

Blake started to shiver. It was a cold night. She hugged herself for a sense of presence and also heat. She was so angry at herself and felt like she deserved the cold atmosphere. The place she had once loved to be had now been replaced by a reminder that it was just a memory. That she could never go back to what she had when he was here. That she had made friends at Beacon in both her team, team JNPR and team VOID. Blake questioned if she really deserved to call any of them friends. She had lied to them after all. She questioned if she truly deserved friends.

Then a familiar weight fell on her shoulders. A familiar white coat.

"You look cold."

* * *

(Flashback – 5 Years Ago)

"Mr Schnee, thank you for your co-operation." Adam smirked at the screen of his scroll.

"Just don't hurt my daughter." The elder gentleman pleaded from across the line.

"You have my word Mr. Schnee. Your daughter will remain unharmed." Adam said as he ended the call. Turning back to his captive prisoners. Two young children. Coal and Weiss Schnee, twelve years old twins of one of the most famous men across the world of Remnant. Both children were strapped to chairs just a few meters apart from each other. "I can't believe that bastard paid. The amount we were charging he could have bought them both back."

"He paid now let us go!" A young boy with white hair shouted. Thrashing around unable to break the bonds that were keeping his arms and legs fixed to the chair.

"Yeah. You said you would let us go when he paid." A young Weiss said somewhat fearfully. She was sat across from her brother in a similar situation.

Adam smirked at the two as he summoned two of his own men. "Look after them while I make preparations to return the girl to her father. He did pay after all and I am a man of my word."

"What about the boy?" one of the men asked, his voice muffled by his mask.

"I never promised his safety, and he was never paid for… dispose of him." Adam said darkly sending a hidden glance to the boy though his mask.

"But you said you wouldn't hurt us!" Weiss shouted.

"Actually princess…" Adam said as he pulled out his sword and held it to her throat. "I said I only wouldn't hurt you. Your brother however, was not part of that deal." Adam returned his sword to his sheath and left the dark room. Leaving the two Faunus males with the two Schnee siblings.

"What should we do with him?"

"Well we may as well use one of those graves we dug out back."

"But it seems such a waste. We never got to have any fun."

"I think I know how we can still have some."

One of the men walked over to the boy and ripped off his shirt. Taking his claws the man proceeded to dig his sharp claws into the boy's chest around his shoulder and drag them slowly down his front, ending at just above his waist. Letting the blood flow out the cuts.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Coal cried out in pain. Holding back the tears that were forming at the edges of his eyes.

"STOP IT!" Weiss shouted. "YOUR HURTING HIM!"

"oooo… let me have a go!" the second man giggled and took his own claws over the boy's back, causing another shriek of painful cries. More blood dropped to the floor.

"PLEASE STOP IT!" Weiss cried.

But no matter how loud she shouted, no matter how much she pleaded, they wouldn't stop clawing at her twin's flesh.

A few more slashes later, Coal looked up at the masked man in front of him, still forcing back the tears of pain and spat in the man's face.

"Fuck you!" he said smirking as if he was still in control of the situation. ' _Keep their attention on me. Don't let them hurt Weiss'_ , he told himself despite the pain.

"COAL STOP IT! PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM!" she continued to plead, to no avail.

Then man wiped the spit from his face and snarled angrily at the child. Nodding to his companion the two continued with their source of entertainment and created more deep wounds in the boy, getting more painful cries which filled them with glee.

Seconds became minutes. The minutes became hours as Weiss watched the pool of blood grow and grow. Her brother's blood. It never seemed to end as more and more red liquid filled her vision. She cried and screamed for the men to stop all she could but they didn't listen. They just continued to claw at her twin and send more pain through his body.

She couldn't see him too well due to the man standing in front of him, cutting off her direct vision to her twin. But she just about managed to see Coal's head fall forwards. Limp and lifeless.

"COAL!" she screamed one final time before she was smacked in the face, knocking her clean out. The last thing she saw that day, was her twins lifeless form strapped to a chair, cloaked in deep lacerations spurting out his own blood which dripped from his pale body into a red puddle at his feet.


	18. Chapter 18

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

And here you go.

So despite still being rather sick I managed to finish this chapter just in time. If there are a few spelling errors or what not then I beg for your forgiveness, while my spelling never has been good I really haven't had much strength this last week.

So I love this chapter. I love writing character interaction and stuff like that and I want to do so much more with it. oh and just because Blake won the poll don't think that this fic will turn into a fic just about them. I had an amazing idea for Ruby that I really want to use but I have altered it so that it won't come between Blake and Coal. that will come up in volume two.

On a different note…

We just hit 100 followers! What the shit man! Seriously thank you all so much for the support with this fic. That is beyond what I ever thought I could get for something that I had very little confidence in at the beginning. But thanks to you guys, this is still going strong and I am doing all I can to improve my writing to make this fic as good as I can possible make it.

Don't own RWBY.

* * *

Chapter 18: Who are You?

"You look cold."

Blake turned to face the human. Her first human friend. Coal was back, but he was different. His usual mess of black hair which usually hung in front of his face was now neatly pushed back and was also completely white. It reminded Blake of an early morning frost as his hairs seemed to cross over one another in a frost like pattern. His eyes that were normally empty and soulless were now filled with a new sense of tranquil happiness that Blake had never seen in them before, even while he was fishing. His smile was soft, calming and sincere that it seemed too good to be true. He seemed so relaxed and happy that Blake's jaw dropped at the sight of him. She thought she must be dreaming.

Coal reached into his bag and pulled out a small collapsible fishing pole. Extending the rod he cast a line into the water and sat on the very edge of the pier, his usual spot. Reaching inside his bag once more he pulled out a book and presented it to Blake, who remained frozen in shock at how the boy just appeared out of nowhere.

"It's not your usual smut but I think you'll like it. It's the sequel to that book with the man with two souls." He said softly. A voice which sent both happiness and guilt through Blake's heart. He was really here. Not just a figment of her imagination. She just stared at the book he was holding out for a moment, wondering what to say to a boy who was tortured by an organisation that she had supported and defended for so long. She was confused to say the least. What was the best way to approach this?

"You should hate me." She almost yelled. Yep, that could have gone better.

"Shhh. You'll scare the fish." Coal whispered while maintaining his soft, emotional expression. "Just take the book and sit Blake. It's a beautiful night."

Blake stared into his eyes. She was filled by many emotions ranging from pure delight and happiness to confusion and guilt. She didn't know how to respond to him. He hadn't even been back for more than five minutes before he was already defying all logic, breaking every portrayal of the human race that had been drilled into her throughout her life. With no other answer, Blake took the book and sat in her usual spot behind the boy, leaning against his back for support and opened her book to relax. She would deal with her confusion in the morning. For now, her wish had been granted. Coal was back. He was still the same person who had accepted her the first time round. The person who had broken though her walls and given her the rope she had used to climb out her dark pit of despair. And for now, she would enjoy his presence. She would enjoy the calming scene around them. She would enjoy the feeling of his heat beating against her back through the fabric of their clothing. For the first time since he left. Blake could once again, just be herself. She felt a wave of relief wash over her as she turned the page of her book. Weiss had been right for once. Coal would always come back.

* * *

The next morning. Blake woke up and left her hotel room to meet with her human companion. After calming down and relaxing on the pier she had a much clearer mind about what she needed to do.

Firstly, she needed to apologise for lying to her team, beg for their forgiveness and a second chance. If they refused her, then she would willingly leave.

Secondly, Coal had a lot of explaining to do. She needed to know where he ran away to. She needed to know about what happened to him… Everything that had happened to him. She wanted to be there for him when he needed it, rather than let him run away again.

And finally, she needed something to eat.

Blake banged on the boy's door. They had gotten separate rooms of course and he had retired to a room further down the hall from her own room. "Coal get up!" She yelled though the door. She took a large step left to stand out the way of the door as three ice forged estocs pierced through the wooden door, right where she was previously standing. She also needed to figure out how to cure that aspect of the boy's personality… And pay for the damages.

Coal opened the door quickly and jumped out his room into the hall way, frantically looking at where he had pierced through the door, hoping that he had missed. Once he realised he hadn't hit anyone he let out a deep breath and relaxed his body somewhat, ripping off his gauntlet. He had a bad habit of sleeping with his weapons, just in case. He may not have hit anyone this time and the fact that he had been rudely awoken left him slightly aggravated. His gut however was somewhat different. Something was wrong, very wrong and that made him cautious.

 _ **Stay on your guard, I have a very bad feeling.**_

"Errr… Coal." Blake questioned from behind the boy. Coal looked over his shoulder to see Blake staring at him, her face as red as Ruby's cloak and a small trickle of blood coming from her nose.

"What?" he questioned nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Can you… Can you put on some pants?" Blake questioned, unable to take her eyes of the boy.

Coal looked down at his body.

His stark naked body.

"Bollocks" he cursed as he vanished in a puff of smoke back into his room, slamming the door in the process.

 _ **Nice choice of words.**_

"Fuck you Cobalt." Coal spluttered with a crimson face. for the first time he regretted his choice of sleeping attire, or lack thereof. Weiss had asked him countless times to actually wear something to bed, only now was he fully seeing the purpose behind it.

Blake finally blinked at the spot where Coal had just dashed from. She was no stranger to the male body, she both thanked and cursed Adam for that, but in her mind Coal was smoking hot. _'Damn it I'm not here to pick up boys'_ she mentally reminded herself. Though it would have been difficult to say no to someone with that kind of body. His toned muscles, perfect posture and his presence alone were enough to cause a few scenarios to race through her mind. _'STOP IT! BAD BLAKE BAD!'_ For the first time in her life, she regretted reading smut.

* * *

(Café – later that morning)

Coal had gotten dressed quickly and had taken his Faunus friend to one of his favourite cafés in all of Vale… Mainly because the served alcohol throughout the day but that wasn't the point. He was in need of a good breakfast and a strong drink.

Coal sat opposite a still slightly red faced Blake with a mountain of food in front of him. Raging from all kinds of meat to fried eggs. He was gouging himself. Sitting just to his left was a pint of his favourite beer. His third of the day.

Blake on the other hand simply had a slice of toast and a cup of herbal tea.

"Coal." she questioned causing the boy to look up from his food. "Where did you go?" she asked getting straight to the point.

Coal took a big swig of his drink and kept his gaze focused on the plate of food as he spoke. "I went back to the institution." Blake's eyes widened as she took a quick intake of air.

"But why?"

"I… Don't know." Coal answered trying to avoid the question, Blake saw that he was trying to avoid answering her. "I just needed a place to run to and that seemed like the most logical place at the time."

"But why there?"

"Because part of me still sees it as home!" Coal answered truthfully causing Blake to keep quiet and let him continue. "I know that if I'm kept locked away there, I can't hurt anyone." And with that he returned to his food.

Blake wanted to say something. Anything to make him feel better or at least reassure him that he wouldn't hurt anyone. But after his fight with Cardin, there was nothing she could say to him that would be remotely truthful. She knew how caring and gentle he could be, but even with that side to him, he could be just as malicious as Adam if not more so. With him there seemed to be no in between. She had no idea how to approach the boy when he started to show his malicious side.

"So, you know a lot about my past." Coal started looking at Blake with intrigue. Blake recognised once again that he had switched again, back to his mature, yet still slightly childish, caring side. "What about you Blake, how did you end up here?"

"Didn't your files tell you?" Blake accused more than asked. Only for Coal to slam down a file in front of her. Blake opened it to see a single page with only two words at the top of it: Black Cat. Her old code name while she was part of the White Fang.

"What file?" Coal smirked. Blake just stared at him with wide eyes.

"You really suck at gathering intel…" she joked, but highly doubted that was the reason as to why her file was so empty.

"Ha-ha yeah let's go with that." Coal laughed, only confirming Blake's suspicions. He had erased everything after all. "You gonna leave me in the dark Kitten?"

Blake twitched at the nickname. Not that she hated the name, he only called her that when they were alone but to use it in such a public place was something new to her.

"So you want to know more about me?" She asked timidly. Only to get a nod from the boy. Sighing she explained how she ended up at Beacon.

"Well I've been part of the White Fang since I was a little girl, I was basically born into it. Back then things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and Faunus. Of course, despite being promised to quality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings, and so, the white fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of ever rally, I took part in every boycott and I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist. Then five years ago, our leader stepped down. And a new one took his place. A new leader with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks, we were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labour. Like your father's company. But the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect, out of fear." Blake released a heavy breath that she didn't realise she had kept in and looked back towards the boy who was just watching her with a look in his eyes that made her think that he was concerned about her for some reason. Brushing that aside Blake continued. "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. And instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress. So here I am, a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." She finished wiggling her ears to emphasise the point.

Coal watched as her bow moved and remembered the cat ears that were hidden beneath the material.

 _ **Damn that's cute.**_

"Do Ruby and Yang know about all this?" He asked softly.

"Well…" and so she told him about what happened yesterday. How she and his sister agrued over the Faunus rights and how her people were treated and eventually reveiling the fact that she was a Faunus to her teammate by defending the White Fang. Coal said nothing as he listened to the girl taking in every word that she said.

"I don't think they hate you Blake." He said when she finished her story.

"How would you know? And Weiss…"

"Weiss has a major distrust of Faunus in general so don't take that personally. After what happened it pretty much just confirmed the fact that she will never be able to trust a Faunus again and sometimes she will just avoid them all together. I pretty much don't give a shit about our differences but the White Fang should be disposed of. There is something though." He said in a emotionless tone.

"What is it?" Blake questioned worriedly.

"I need to know Blake." He spoke in a dark voice trying to ignore the feeling in his gut, he still had that weird feeling being around the girl. He couldn't tell what it was, he was sure that he didn't want to hurt her but at the same time why was he so cautious around her. he seemed to question everything he was doing and saying since he met up with the girl last night. He had one idea of what could be causing this feeling. "Five years ago, when Weiss and I were kidnapped by your boyfriend."

"Ex-Boyfriend." Blake growled somewhat angrily at being associated with that monster, and again at the fact that Coal switched personalities again.

"Regardless of whatever boyfriend, did you know. Did you have any part in it?"

Blake looked him right in the eyes as she gave her answer.

"I had none what so ever… I'm sorry about what happened."

"You weren't there so how would you even know…" he said sadly. So, that wasn't what was causing the odd feeling. But he did feel more at ease around the Faunus.

"Then tell me!" Blake said leaning in.

Sighing, he reached down into his backpack under the table and pulled out two very large files and placed them in front of the Faunus. Blake looked at the files and saw that both had the words _"TOP SECRET"_ printed in large red letters. He also passed her a small black box with a single dial and button. Blake stared at the items somewhat confused waiting for him to explain.

"Inside those files is the reports from both me and my sisters kidnapping If you really want to know what happened, why I was put there in the first place… then read them. The first is the crime scene reports and the basis of what happened while the second is my medical records. I'd rather not relive those memories. But if you ever don't feel safe around me anymore or if I… If I ever seem different, then press that button. It should set me straight." He explained solemnly as he put a metallic black collar around his neck, it beeped once when it clicked in place. Blake looked at the black box he had given her even more confused than before, opening the first file. The file on his kidnapping.

She closed the file quickly. She only glanced at it for a few seconds but the photos of the aftermath of the scene were to horrifying. There was so much blood… the bodies of the White Fang members… He had been through it all and survived. No wonder he was institutionalised.

"How did you even survive that?" she unintentionally questioned out loud.

"Technically, I shouldn't have…"

* * *

(Five years ago – Coal POV)

' _I'm cold…'_

 _ **Of course your cold. That is what happens when you're about to die.**_

' _Where am I? who are you?'_

 _ **Open your eyes.**_

I opened my eyes to be met with a blurry void of endless darkness. Blinking a few times my vision returned but the sight just left me confused. I was staring down at a glyph glowing on the back of a boy ridden with bleeding claw marks strapped to a chair.

' _Wait wasn't I just there?'_

I was right. I had been in that chair not moments ago. moving round to get a look at the boy's face I was smacked in the side of the head… Hard. I fell to the ground and let out a yelp of pain. A yelp that sounded very animalistic. Looking back up I saw a figure I remember well… one of my torturers.

"What the hell is that thing!" he shouted. Yet his voice seemed louder than normal to my ears. That was when I noticed another of my senses.

I could smell blood, lots of blood. My own blood. I was looking at a pool of crimson red liquid that was gathering more droplets of the same liquid from the boy I was just looking at. his head was hanging from his neck lifelessly, his face pale, eyes a distant and soulless crimson red. _'Wait… that's me...'_

Then another smell. Of a different person's blood.

I turned my attention to the new smell and felt rage build up when I saw my sister. She had a cut over her left eye, one which was still bleeding. Her head also hung lifelessly… my second torturer stood in front of her, with a clenched fist.

' _He hurt her'_

 _ **Then make them SUFFER**_

I lunged at the man with intent to kill. He had hurt my sister. He needed to pay. And I would make him. I had no weapon so the only thing I knew to do was to punch. I took my tightly clenched fist and slammed it straight into the man's gut and sent him flying into the wall creating a small crater.

I crouched down to dodge a swinging strike from the second man. Taking my now open palm I grabbed his head… his whole head. Why was my hand so big. Hang on, it's also covered in white fur. And are those claws?

' _what the hell is going on?'_

 _ **I gave you the POWER to make them all SUFFER**_

Good. I needed it if I was going to kill these men. I began to squeeze the man's head encased in my hand, scratch that, claw. I head his muffled screams of pain and I continued to increase the pressure. Eventually, the man's skull gave in and collapsed upon itself. His head exploding in a mass of blood and brain matter. I was finished with him. So I just dropped him to the floor. I turned to the second man who just cowered in fear in the corner of the dark room.

 _ **I'M HUNGRY**_

I licked my teeth, no… Fangs and pounced on my prey. Sinking my sharp long fangs into the man's neck. Piercing through his windpipe, cutting of his air supply and filling his lungs with his own blood. I held him there, just hanging from my jaw, dying slowly and bit down harder to increase his pain. He deserved it. he hurt Weiss. I dropped him when I felt his twitching body stop moving.

I looked over towards my sister and moved to try see if she was still alive. Stepping in the puddle of blood I just made with my chew toy, I looked down at my reflection. Staring back at me was a white furred Beowolf with gleaming red eyes.

' _What is this?'_

 _ **CRIMSON**_

I felt all my strength begin to drain from me as my vision darkened once more. This body was dying also. My human body was still tied to a chair as well as my sister's. I needed to call for help. Using the very last of my strength I let out the loudest howl I could manage, a last chance call for help and fell into the pool of blood. My vision faded completely as I felt my Grimm body dissolve into the putrid bloodstained air. I never realised how painful it was for those creatures during their final moments, being broken down into nothing but black smoke. I knew for certain that it would be a pain I would never forget.

* * *

(Present time normal POV)

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, somewhat confused by what he meant by that he shouldn't have survived.

"Yeah… I have no idea how I'm still around to be honest. Apparently, my pulse was so shallow that I was basically alive on spirit alone. Ironwood said that maybe the only reason I survived, was because of the dust infused in my back was able to keep my heart going long enough to get me to a hospital, despite the amount of blood loss. I went into Hypovolemic shock and was pretty much dead to the world for a few weeks before I eventually woke up in the shit hole of an institute. Either way it doesn't matter how I survived because somehow, beyond any logic, I did. But getting that close to death, it fucking hurts." He said quietly avoiding her eyes.

Blake dropped her gaze to her hands that were now clasped together in front of her. He had every reason to hate and want to kill every last member of the White Fang for what they did. So why was he here now and being so nice to her?

"You should hate me… You should have shot me in the forest when you had the chance… why didn't you?"

Taking a long deep breath Coal spoke the truth. "I didn't know who you were at the time. I had a good idea yeah, but not enough to deem it necessary to kill you. I only found out later on when I got the files from Ironwood and confirmed my suspicions."

"Then why the hell am I still here!" Blake yelled turning the attention of some other customers around her. Coal kept his voice low and quiet enough so that only the two of them could hear.

"I wanted to kill you at first. But my primary target is Adam. I figured you could lead me straight to him, but after Frostpoint… I just couldn't bring myself to hurt you. I saw it in your eyes when you had your gun pointed at me, I saw you . the girl running from her past just like I have been trying to do. I just couldn't hurt you when you're so busy hurting yourself, keeping everyone at arms distance and not opening up at all around anyone. After you ran in to save that girl I began to see a different side to you. A true member of the White Fang would never save a human, yet you, a Faunus hiding in plain sight, chose to put herself in harm's way to protect an innocent child. I admire that."

"But I still-"

"Blake there's no need to explain yourself for what you did in the past." Coal interrupted looking into her eyes "Both of us have done some terrible things regardless of reason, so just don't even try. Honestly, through experience, I don't think it's worth it. You know, I recently got some good advice. 'It doesn't matter who you were, it matters who you are.' So tell me Blake Belladonna, Who are you?" he asked smiling softly.

Blake felt her cheeks heat up. it was never that he didn't care about her past. He just accepted it because of who she was now. Through her actions alone she had unknowingly saved her own life and after opening up to him slightly, though fishing with him on occasion, she felt happier inside. Because of him, her loneliness had been replaced with friendship from her teammates and everyone else at Beacon. He had been doing the same for her that she decided to do for him just this morning. Help him through his struggles. Despite his wrath, despite his monstrous nature and despite his past he truly could be a softy at heart. Something Blake had not realised she was longing for.

Blake was about to answer him when a waitress walked up to their table. "Can I get anything for the young couple?" the waitress questioned with a knowing smile.

Blake returned to her usual deadpan expression while Coal began to choke on his drink having swallowed some of the alcohol the wrong way. Blake also noticed that his face was a bright shade of red as he thumped on his chest with his fist trying to cough up the liquid.

"We are fine thanks. And we are not a couple" Blake clarified to the waitress, before turning back to the boy. Smiling herself she tried another dig at the boy, an opportunity she couldn't miss. "You've never dated before, have you Fluffles?"

"Shut up Kitten!" Coal scoffed, his face turning an even darker red.

"I'll take that as a no." Blake shrugged leaning back in her chair victorious. It felt good to win for once.

"Remember you owe me, so I'd be careful what you say if I were you." Coal said as he returned to his meal.

"Owe you? For what?"

"You saw me naked remember." Coal playfully winked, causing Blake to now turn red faced. "One - one Blake. You need to do better if your gonna beat me in a battle of wits." He said cracking an all too familiar childish smile to the girl. Again, he felt that feeling at the bottom of his gut. His instincts were running haywire today. Had he really missed the Faunus that much?

"Challenge accepted." Blake smirked back. _'No matter what he goes through, he will always find a reason to smile.'_

"Who's challenging who?" A new voice spoke up. Both teens looked to the side to see a blond monkey Faunus with a cheesy smile plastered on his face. Blake returned once more to her deadpan expression.

"Nothing you need to be concerned with mate." Coal said as he took another long drink.

"Aww, I missed you too flatfoot." The Faunus smiled down at the two, as he collected a seat and sat down at their table. "Names Sun by the way." He told Blake with a wink.

"Ugh" Blake scoffed rolling her eyes.

"Am I going to have to arrest you for harassment this time Sun?" Coal asked as he raised a brow to the boy.

"This time?" Blake asked somewhat confused.

"I busted him a while back for petty theft when I was still with the military. He wasn't causing much harm so I let him go, in exchange for a favour."

"A favour I'm about to pay back right now." Sun exclaimed still smiling. This caught Coal's attention who quickly adopted a more serious expression, prompting Sun to continue. "I got some dirt on the White Fang that I'll think you'll want to hear."

"Well Sun. You've just gotten my erection."

"Attention." Blake corrected rolling her eyes, forcing herself not to giggle at his innuendo. At least he wasn't as bad as Yang when she got going.

"Six and two threes." Coal shrugged, cracking his smile once more and getting a rather loud laugh from Sun.

"Glad to see you still haven't changed a bit." Sun exclaimed slapping the boy on the back, before donning a serious expression himself. "But seriously. You might want to hear this."

* * *

Blake and Coal were lying prone on one of the shipping containers at the docks late in the evening. According to the information Sun, the monkey Faunus, had given them, there was supposedly a large shipment of dust that had recently come in that would be ripe for the taking by the White Fang. Something Blake tried to argue against.

Blake believed that the White Fang wouldn't need such a large quantity of dust. They were still just a rebellious organisation so why would they need so much weaponry. Coal had quickly shut her down though. Seemingly out of nowhere he produced file after file of previous thefts and robberies of dust shops and storages, all committed by the White Fang. Blake got a good look at the files that he kept on her previous organisation. In a word it was creepy.

Coal had probably known the White Fang better than she ever had. He had collected maps of hideout locations, both currently occupied and ones that had been raided by the military… ones he had crossed off himself and made sure she understood that he was directly involved in shutting them down. He had detailed reports on everything about the Fang yet only two parts of the files lacked anything but a name… a file on herself, formerly known as Black Cat and her ex-lover Adam.

Blake was still unsure about the White Fangs involvement in the heists. Something she continuously voiced to Coal during the day while they waited for nightfall.

"I still don't think its them." She stated looking over to the boy to her right, who just kept watching the shipping yard.

"They aren't just a resistance anymore Blake, they are an army now." He answered simply.

"But still. What would they do with all that dust?"

"Bombs, weaponry, trade… all sorts. Look Blake, I know deep down that you still think there is some good in the White Fang, and yeah there may be, but as it stands I cannot take that risk. I won't lose anyone else to them... not this time." Coal said somewhat emotionlessly.

Blake cast her eyes back down towards the ship yard and remained silent after that. She had probably upset him having tried to defend the very organisation that had torched him and his sister but she just couldn't let something like this go. The White Fang had been part of her life for so long. It wasn't easy to leave behind.

Coal let out a loud sigh as he turned onto his back as put on his headphones gazing up at the stars, folding his arms behind his head for comfort. For a while the two just lay in what was their first awkward silence, Blake could just about hear his music playing through his headphones because of her enhanced hearing as a Faunus but that didn't help ease the dry silence.

Then Coal Broke it… He started softly singing along to his music.

~ I reserve my right to feel uncomfortable, reserve my right to be afraid. ~

~ I make mistakes and I am humbled, every step of the way. ~

~ I want to be a better person. ~

~ I want to know the master plan. ~

~ Cast your stones, cast your judgement, you don't make me who I am. ~

Blake was transfixed by his voice as he repeated the same verse in the same soft tone. It was so soft and filled with emotion that she almost shed a tear. She had remembered that he used to sing with his sister when they were younger, but she never expected him to be any good. He was staring at the night sky with a distant yet tranquil look in his black eyes, he was so relaxed regardless of the situation at hand. That short display of emotion driven singing was enough to send her own heart in waves of emotions that Blake hadn't felt in a long time… But it all had to end.

Coal pulled his headphones back down when Sun landed next to him with an armful of fruit.

"Hey. I stole you guys some fruit."

"Am I going to have to arrest you again?"

"Not if you want something to eat." Sun sang holding out an apple to the boy who simply shrugged and took it. Blake rolled her eyes at the two.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

"Weren't you in a terrorist organisation." Coal spat somewhat accusingly casing a dark glare to the girl. Blake just cast her eyes downward once more. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. Sun nudged Coal in the arm and spoke quietly so that only the two of them could hear.

"A bit harsh dude." Coal nodded solemnly. Sun was right, that was uncalled for, but Blake needed to know where he stood against the Fang. If she stood against him, then she would get the same treatment. Though he regretted saying what he did, he just couldn't apologise for speaking his mind. Blake had been doing it all day trying to defend the Fang, so why was he now the bad guy. Sun spoke up once more. "I'm gonna check the perimeter, maybe see if I can spot anything." Blake nodded without looking. Sun nudged Coal once more to get his attention and gestured towards Blake and silently mimed "Go apologise dumbass." And with that he leapt away. Leaving the Faunus and human alone.

Coal looked towards the Faunus girl, who didn't notice his gaze, praying he hadn't just ruined their friendship. She was one of his first real friends that was around his age and knew more about him now then even his twin sister knew. He trusted her with his life. Now, he didn't know if she would trust him anymore. Everything he had ever did, everything he had ever known had always had some sort of logical answer. Yet when it came to Blake, Coal was becoming more and more confused at how to act. Logic dictates that he was in every right to despise the girl lying beside him yet for some reason he just wanted to know more about her, to see her as just her rather than what she was known for. Then he felt it again, that weird gut feeling. There was another thing he needed to know about the girl, another event that plagued him. Maybe that could be his bad feeling.

"Blake I-" Coal tried to only be interrupted by a strong gust of air that forced him to cover his eyes from the cloud of dust and dirt that was spun up from the draft. Landing in the very centre of the ship yard, was a large bulkhead.

 _ **Sort your issues out later. We need the exercise.**_

Coal nodded to himself before pulling his hood over his head to hide his face from the dust. So, that was his feeling. Incoming hostiles. His mind told him that it was entirely plausible but his instincts told him something else. He hated how much the Faunus confused him.

Blake opened her eyes having shielded them from the wind and dust cloud. She watched in both shock and disappointment as out of the airship, members of the White Fang walked out and headed towards containers. Some members were heavily armed but the others just carried crates and tools to gather the dust supplies they intended to steal… Coal was right, and deep down she knew he would have been.

Blake dropped her eyes in defeat and made to look at the boy and apologise. "I'm sorry." She said to no-one. Coal had been replaced by a half-eaten apple and a single can of beer with a note saying: 'For when the mission's over.'

Blake looked from left to right trying to spot the boy but he was nowhere to be seen. When did he even leave? Where did he go? And damn it, how did he managed to slip away when she had enhanced Faunus senses? "That little bastard!" she quietly cursed, storing the can away for later. His disappearing acts were beginning to get annoying.

"Hey, what's the hold up!" A voice spoke as a man exited the bulkhead. He wore a simple white coat and wore a bowler hat over his ginger hair caring a cigar in one hand and a cane in the other. "we're not the most inconspicuous of thieves at the moment so why don't you animals pick up the pace." Roman Torchwick ordered.

Blake's eyes widened at the man she saw. Why was a human of all things here… and ordering the Faunus around. That made no sense what so ever. She jumped down into the shadows of the containers and began to sneak her way towards the only human around seeing as Coal had disappeared once more. She didn't even notice as a thick mist started to form around the ship yard, helping to conceal her presence further.

She slipped up to Roman and held her blade to his throat. "What the! Oh for-"

"Nobody move!" Blake ordered having lost all patience with the world. As Roman's minions draw weapons and pointed them towards her, Blake reached up with her free hand and removed her bow, showing her cat ears. "Brothers of the White Fang. Why are you aiding this scum?" she demanded to know. Some of the Faunus looked at one another before lowering their weapons, confused themselves.

"Look kid, didn't you get the memo."

"What are you talking about?"

"The white fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation." Roman smirked as the wind picked up once more. Two more bulkheads closing in. Roman's smirk grew at seeing his reinforcements and shifted his cane to shoot down at the ground at the girl's feet. But he never got the chance as someone else caused an explosion before him.

BOOM

A giant fireball exploded out of the first bulkhead.

BOOM

And a second came from the other aircraft as they both began to fall from the sky. One landing on the edge of the ship yard while the other actually hit the water and started to sink.

Blake and Roman separated due to the force of the blasts. recovering quickly Blake made to go after the human before he could regroup with his allies. She felt herself being pulled deeper into the mist by a strong grip on her upper arm. With it came a dark voice.

" **Stay put! Leave this to the professionals!"** Coal spoke quietly as he placed his headset on Blake's head and walked out from the mist, leaving Blake to stare at his back as he walked out into the open. **"I'll be back for that!"** His hood was up so that she couldn't fully see his face but Blake recognised the voice. As she watched the human walk away to engage in a fight with the White Fang and Roman Torchwick she knew one thing was certain.

Someone was going to die tonight.

Then, Coal started to laugh to himself. She couldn't tell whether he was mad or actually genuinely amused at something.

" **Hey! You White Fang Bastards!"** Coal shouted getting the attention of the criminal who cursed at the sight of the known executioner standing at the edge of the eerie mist. No one had eyes that glowed that shade of blue, Roman had heard stories of a boy in the military that had taken down some of his predecessors and pervious business associates and now here he was standing less than fifty metres away. **"I owe you for what you did to us!"**


	19. Chapter 19

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

I'M ALIVE AGAIN!

Finally, I'm over that crappy sickness bug. Damn it feels so good to be back again. I originally thought about splitting this into two chapters but after feeling so much better I decided to just write and write and write. I had so much energy recently that I just couldn't stop and since it is coming to the end of a volume I just couldn't help myself.

But this is where I have to give you all some bad news. Because of this illness I haven't had the chance to plan out my draft for volume two like I intended to and because I want to do the best that I can, I might end up taking a week or two to sit down and draft up a story board the way I want this fic to go. Fret not! I will be continuing this fic and it will not be long before I can sit down and get the next chapter out. I'm am nowhere near finished fucking with Coal and his alternative personas, or his pairing with Blake, or his sisterly relationship with Weiss. Oh, damn there is a lot I need to fuck with… [insert evil villain laugh here]

*cough* Moving on…

THANK YOU TO ALL THE AWSOMELY BADASS AND BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WHO FAVORATED, FOLLOWED AND REVIEWED THIS FIRST FIC OF MINE. Seriously without the support of you all, none of this would have been written. You all deserve a plate of Ruby's best cookies for just being awesome!

Once again I do not own RWBY.

* * *

Chapter 19: I Am… Home

"BLAKE!"

"BLAKE WHERE ARE YOU!"

"Weiss you're not helping!" Ruby complained. Since Blake ran off last night and had yet to return, the remaining members of team RWBY decided to go out and search for her, lest they would lose another friend. Ruby and Yang called out to the Faunus in means of finding her while walking around the city of Vale, Weiss had remained silent as they ventured through the city streets, almost uninterested.

"Why should I?" Weiss questioned folding her arms.

"Because you said you would!" Yang snapped back. "She is our friend."

"She is a Faunus, and a member or the white fang no less!"

"Weiss, we should hear her side of the story, we heard yours after all." Yang argued. Weiss pressed on in silence after that. She understood that Yang was right in that they had yet to hear Blake's interpretation of her connection to the White Fang from the Faunus herself but Weiss didn't care. Moreover, she didn't want or need to listen to the Faunus. She called back to her teammates who followed her as she continued walking.

"Fine once you hear her side then you will understand why I said those things."

"You didn't need to be such a bitch about it though!" Yang cursed getting annoyed at the Schnee.

"Hey! I had my own motives." Weiss snapped turning on the blond. "Coal isn't the only one who can be cunning you know."

"And what's that supposed to mean!" Ruby snapped also getting irritated with her partner.

"I ALREADY KNEW SHE WAS A FAUNUS!" Weiss snapped, getting surprised looks from her teammates.

"You mean the girl with the cat ears." Came the voice of Penny who appeared behind Weiss causing her to leap into the air and land in her partner's arms.

"Ah! Penny where did you come from?" Ruby asked when Weiss climbed out of her arms.

"Atlas." Penny stated the obvious, getting groans in response. "Where's Blake?" She continued.

"Well…" Ruby sighed. "We are looking for her."

"What did you mean by cat ears?" Yang questioned.

"Blake, was she the Faunus you were talking about?" Penny questioned rather innocently.

"Blake doesn't have cat ears, she wears a bow…" Yang trailed off just now putting two and two together. Weiss facepalmed out of annoyance.

"Yeah try looking at that bow the same way now." She deadpanned.

"How did you know!" Ruby questioned also getting frustrated once more. Though she only now realised just how much Blake liked tuna, how hadn't she or Yang figured that out when apparently, Weiss had.

"Coal told me."

"Oh, where is boyfriend Coal also? He should have returned by now!" Penny cheered clapping her hands together and bouncing on her heels.

"He hasn't come back yet." Weiss said quietly, being reminded by the fact that her twin was still missing also. Penny tilted her head in confusion, according to Ironwood he should have already been back in the city, but before she could ask what the Schnee meant she was interrupted by Ruby.

"Penny have you seen Blake at all?"

"No I have not, but rest assured my friend Ruby, we will not stop until your teammate has been located!" Penny claimed getting very close to the girl and tightly taking her hands. Ruby grew very uncomfortable at the close proximity of the girl.

"That's really nice of you Penny, but I think we…" Ruby cut herself off as she looked around the girl to see that both her sister and Weiss had vanished, leaving her with the eccentric teen. "Just great…" She mumbled to herself.

* * *

"Thanks anyways." Yang called back into the shop that she and Weiss had just left. "This is hopeless." When Weiss started walking once more without comment Yang decided to interrogate the girl. "You don't care if we find her, do you?"

"Don't be stupid, of course I do!" Weiss snapped back turning to face the blond with her hands firmly planted at her hips. "If I had that much of a problem I would have said something well before now."

"Then why did you get so bitchy with her yesterday?" Yang questioned also placing her hands firmly on her hips. Locking them in a standoff.

"Because I wanted to know for myself which side she would take!" Weiss yelled. "I trust my brother more than anyone else in the world, so when he made me promise not to say anything about it I got really pissed off! I needed to know Yang, I needed to push her buttons enough to see exactly who she was for myself. And what happened last night proves it, she still supports the white fang!"

"Don't you think you went a little too far though?" Yang questioned softly, using the same sisterly tone that she would have used if she was speaking with Ruby. Weiss backed down slightly and let out a deep breath that she didn't realise she was holding in.

"Maybe… But the innocent never run Yang." Weiss turned to walk away from her as Yang gave her a few more words to think about.

"Then why did Coal run?" Yang asked, Weiss however, already knew the answer to that question.

"Because he isn't innocent either…"

* * *

Penny and Ruby were also wondering the streets again in search of the Faunus.

"So, Blake is your friend?" Penny asked.

"Yes Penny." Ruby answered looking to the sky and cursing her teammates for ditching her with the girl.

"But your mad at her?"

"Yes… well I'm not. Weiss is."

"Is she friends with Blake?"

"Well that's kind of up in the air right now."

"But why?"

"Well Blake might not be who we thought she was." Ruby answered with a depressed expression.

"Is she a man?" Penny asked surprised

"No penny she not… she didn't exactly talk to us before she ran off."

"I don't have a lot of friends…" Penny replied. "But if I did I would want them to talk to me."

"Yeah me too…" Ruby sighed as she continued walking. A few minutes later she heard a couple of loud explosions and turned to see a lot of black smoke rising from the docks. "Oh no…" she said, fearing the worst.

* * *

"Well, well. If it isn't Coal Valiant." Roman remarked sounding confident. Though internally he was already planning several different escape routes. Coal merely laughed rather loudly.

" **So you heard of HIS name?"** The boy laughed.

"News travels fast." Roman joked twirling his cane. "I'll tell Adam you said hello."

From behind the boy, three white Beowolves emerged from the heavy mist, eyes glowing the same cobalt blue as the boy's eyes. The Grimm snarled angrily at the criminal as their master drew his revolver and pulled back the hammer.

"So, you brought reinforcements. Let me show you mine!" Roman remarked as he pointed off to the airship that had crash landed moments earlier. Out of the airship emerged around about two dozen members of the White Fang. Loaded to the teeth with guns and swords as they formed a protective wall between the boy and their leader. The ones who had been on the ground originally had also entered the fray. Along with the ones who had managed to climb out the sinking airship. "Boys! Go execute the executioner!"

As the Faunus charged at the boy, he showed an evil smirk as he growled to his pets. **"Go play."**

Blake watched from deep within the mist as Coal's summoned Grimm charged and met her brethren halfway. An all-out brawl between the sides began, gunfire, swords and claws all attacking furiously trying to kill the other. She looked at the back of the human who had told her to stay where she was in fear. This was Coal? No, this was someone else… Blake remembered him saying. _'Another thing you should know is that when I do summon, it feels like I'm tearing my soul in two halves.'_ So, if that was the case, would summoning three Grimm at the same time be the same as splitting his soul into four? Blake thought back to one of her book, the man with two souls, and couldn't help but realise what kind of position Coal was in… He was fighting not only the White Fang but also himself. Constantly. The amount of pain that he had been though already and that he was still going though must have been unbearable. No wonder he had tried to keep it all a secret.

Sun approached Blake and grabbed her upper arm and tried to usher her away from the fight, having noticed her frozen in place. "We need to get out of here, like now!" He said still pulling on the girl who was trying to remain in the same spot. Struck in fear and awe as she watched her own kind get outclassed by monsters.

"But Coal…"

"Leave him!" Sun yelled trying to talk some sense into the girl, the fear in his eyes and voice was obvious. "He's gone and there's nothing you can do to bring him back!"

"What do you mean he's gone?" Blake yelled back trying to break out of Sun's tight grip.

"I've seen him fight like that… Once. They may be blue now but once his eyes turn red, you do not want to be around him!" Blake finally gave in and leaped away, landing on top of a nearby where house so that she could still observe the fight and intervene if necessary. She looked at Coal and saw a familiar set of glowing blue eyes underneath the shadow cast by his hood, his right-hand twitching as he controlled his summoned monsters like puppets. Her vision switched as she noticed out the corner of her eyes that Roman was slowly creeping away. She remembered that Coal had passed her his headset and slipped it on herself. Sure, she had ears on top of her head unlike her human counterpart's, but she could still hear the music blasting against her temples.

[I Prevail – Scars]

Coal simply watched as his Grimm slowly took down the White Fang grunts. Being able to see through his pet's eyes gave him the miraculous advantage over the white fang grunts, who were being thrown around like a puppy's favourite toy. He had the advantage of seeing the whole fight while also being able to focus directly on a single target for each Grimm. Slashing and swiping away at the grunts who grew fewer and fewer by the seconds as each fell unconscious, to the attacks from his claws or tried to run away purely out of fear. Some of the grunts did manage to take down one of his creations, however, he would simply summon another to take its place. The white fang had no hope against his endlessly resurrected monsters, something that the boy not only feared himself, but also hated to use. He could already feel himself growing weaker with each new Grimm he summoned. When he noticed that Torchwick was slowly trying to make a discreet escape, he flicked his right wrist and fired a round of black dust behind him, charging right through the remaining Faunus and his own pets. Leaving a trail of his ice forged estocs behind him as he stopped just shy of a few yards away from the criminal.

" **Torchwick!"** He growled. Roman turned slowly to see the white coated teen remove his hood and look him directly in the eyes. **"I need your corpse."** Coal clicked his fingers. Causing the trail of estocs he left behind him to explode, engulfing the remaining members of the White Fang in a massive ball of red fire. Burnt bodies of the Faunus came flying out of the explosion in all directions, yet somehow, they were all very much alive. In a great deal of pain sure but still alive. Sending a bone chilling fear down the spine of Roman, he continued to slowly creep upon the criminal once again pulling back on the hammer of his revolver. Roman noticed that at the very centre of his glowing blue eyes was a very small and very dark, crimson red pupil.

"He's mine!" Came the yell of a Faunus girl, Blake dropped down in front of the boy and engaged the criminal in a flurry of exotic slashes which he blocked with ease. While the two exchanged blows, Blake dodging using her semblance most of the time while Roman stayed in one spot, Coal cheered to his inner self.

' _HA! Fuck you Cobalt. I told you she would get involved.'_

" **Yeah, yeah, fuck you."**

Coal noticed Blake take a few hard hits and decided to get himself re-involved in what was originally his own affair. He crafted two more estocs, storing one in his belt at his left hip while holding onto the second. He pounced, thrusting it towards Roman just as Blake was smacked away by his cane. But Roman was no pushover when it came to fighting, he was able to quickly block the sword and take a few quick steps back, blocking the consecutive thrusts that came with it. Coal thrust his weapon hard and let go of the grip just as Roman had blocked his strike and drew the one which he had stored earlier in one fluid motion, purely out of habit rather than strategy. He leapt into the air and preformed a full three sixty spin and thrust his sword downward at the criminal who was beginning to struggle to keep up with the boy's speed. Exchanging between thrusts and gunshots at the criminal, Coal was in complete control of the fight, he had been from the very start. He had completely overthrown Roman's goons with merely a flick of the wrist and had entrapped the criminal in a sense of fear that he knew from his own experience was a difficult nightmare to escape. This was his true style of fighting, breaking someone's spirit with fear so that they were too distracted to notice that they were playing right into his traps.

Blocking strike after strike Roman felt as though he was finally gaining the upper hand when he thought that he had once again disarmed the boy for the second time and tried to make use of it… Only for his cane to be force away by a small explosive shot from the boy's gun that was held across his chest. Leaving Roman wide open for Blake to finish him off with a quick slash, sending him flying backwards landing flat on his back. Roman stood up quickly and eyes an overhead container attached to a crane wire and fired his own explosive shot at the cable, causing the metal container to fall to the ground quickly… Right where Coal and Blake were stood. Blake noticed this almost instantly and made to dive away from the falling object, which she did. When she landed, she looked back to where the container should have landed yet something was off… Everything seemed to be moving in slow-motion. She noticed that on the ground was a golden glyph in the shape of a clock and she was still inside its radius. Standing at its very centre was Coal, who raised his gun, changed it to his white wind dust and took aim at Roman Torchwick who seemed to be frozen in place. An evil smirk plastered on the Executioner's face.

' _Phase one. Send a message.'_

" **Exactly."**

' _Who better than the White Fangs business partner?'_

He slowly squeezed the trigger…

His gun fired at the same time he was tackled in the gut by a black-haired Faunus, causing him to fumble and lose his grip on his firearm from its massive recoil and drop it where he once stood. The bullet flew through the air straight and true and pierced through Roman's bowler hat leaving a hole in the material inches above his head. Blake and Coal both fell outside the radius of the Glyph causing time to resume and a very heavy container to hit the ground where they once stood. Crushing the boys favourite gun.

Roman cursed under his breath as he lifted his hat off his head and inspected the damaged. Having seen the two somehow dodge the container and ended up on the other side of it out of his line of sight, he made to go round to the other side and get payback for his hat.

"Hey!" Came the yell of a familiar young huntress from atop a warehouse. Ruby approached the scene twirling her scythe in her own dramatic entrance. Catching the attention of the criminal.

"Oh, hello Red!" Roman said somewhat amused. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Ruby scowled at the man before she was distracted by Penny who was standing behind her.

"Ruby, are these people your friends?"

"Penny get back!" Ruby ordered turning away from the criminal for just a second, but for long enough to not see the explosive shot that sent her flying backwards, courtesy of Roman Torchwick who was now laughing manically. Penny stepped forward tot eh edge of the building. "Penny wait! Stop!"

"Don't worry Ruby." Penny assured narrowing her eyes at the man who hurt her friend. "I'm combat ready!"

On the other side of the container out of view, Coal landed flat on his back having been speared from his position by the Faunus, who landed on top of him, only increasing his rage. Not only had he missed, his revolver was flattened, he had a sore back and he was also being crushed by the very Faunus that disobeyed his orders of staying put.

" **What the fuck Blake!"** He yelled angrily at the Faunus who pushed herself off the ground and pinned him down using her own weight. **"I had that!** **I could have KIL-"**

*SLAP*

Blake cut him off with a very hard slap across the boy's face. She could have sworn that the second before her had connected with his face, the colour of his eyes started to change hue… To a dark red. She could have been mistaken though as after the slap his eyes had returned to their normal obsidian black.

"FOR ONCE WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!" She yelled down at him. He look utterly stunned at what she just did. "How many times are you going to put yourself in meaningless, life threating situations just to scrape out of them barely alive. And it's not just tonight! You could have died diving into that gorge in the Emerald Forest and then, you took on an army of Grimm outside of Frostpoint by yourself and ended up hospitalized and out cold for hours! You even nearly let Ruby shoot you in the head after knowing you for almost a week and you basically told me to kill you too! Just how much do you want to die! WHO ARE YOU?" she yelled furiously, not budging from her position until he answered.

"People like me don't deserved to be saved…" Coal replied looking away from the girl as he remembered the words of the criminal he had executed on his first mission at Beacon and the words of his older sister. "I only have one job. To live so that I can die protecting the people I care about. That is who I am. That is what makes me Coal Valiant."

*SLAP*

Blake slapped him again for such a stupid answer.

"What is it with you and death!"

"It's what we deserve!" Coal yelled back. "You know who we are Blake. You have seen what we really are inside. Do you have any idea how much I want this pain to go away? How much this pain makes me want to just end it all! But that means breaking our promise to Weiss and that is something we cannot do!"

"Then promise me too!"

 _ **What?**_

"What?"

"Promise me that you will stay this way… Stay the stupid child that I found fishing off the pier and that no matter what happens, that I'll always be able to find you there!" She pleaded.

Coal didn't understand why she wanted that. Shouldn't she want to kill him like the rest of the world. After everything he had been through, he could only trust a handful of people and now, straddling him was a Faunus girl who had come from the very thing which he sought to destroy. Logic dictates that right now they should be enemies. They should hate each other with every part of their souls. However, here they were. Two broken teens from completely different backgrounds and cultures. One running from the dark trying to find the light. The other, residing in the darkness in an attempt to protect what light remained around him. On the other side of the container there was explosion after explosion but Coal didn't care. He just stared at Blake searching for an answer to give.

 _ **You know we can't promise that**_

 _I know… But we still want to._

"I promise." Coal finally said as softly as he could.

*SLAP*

 _ **That's it, I'm going to kill her**_

"Seriously Blake! What the hell!" Coal yelled at the Faunus. He hoped that this wasn't going to be a reoccurring thing, otherwise it was going to be difficult to keep that promise.

"That was for taking so long to come back." Blake stated, while also smiling down at the Human.

"I'm sorry, I took a wrong turn and ended up in Mistral." Coal shrugged showing of his childish grin. Blake rolled her eyes. Once again confirming that no matter what situation he could still always find a reason to smile. They just stayed there for a moment in a comfortable silence, staring into each other's eyes before Coal broke it once more. "Seriously Blake do you think you can get off me now… Before you make a different type of sword." Coal said raising an eyebrow. Blake grew a confused expression before she realised her position. She was straddling the boy, sitting just above his pelvic area…

Coal started laughing when Blake's cheeks turned red having caused the girls embarrassment. "That makes it 2-1 Kitten. I'm winning!" He cheered as Blake quickly stood up and turned looking away in frustration and embarrassment. Coal stood and held out an outstretched hand showing the girl her bow which she had removed earlier. "Thought you might want it back, but for the record, you look much prettier without it." Blake slowly took the bow from his grasp and retied it, covering her ears, trying very hard not to let the heat once again rise to her cheeks so that she wouldn't fall behind in their little game even further. She needed to think of a way to get him back somehow, then a thought hit her. Leaning in and closing the gap between them Blake stood on her toes and breathed into his ear.

"Thank you, Fluffles." When she backed off slowly she made sure that their cheeks brushed lightly just for good measure… when she was able to finally see his face again she almost doubled over in a fit of giggles at the sight of his beet red face and stunned expression. "2-2." She claimed through her own giggles.

"What are you two doing!" Came the screeching yell from Ruby who stared at the human and Faunus with wide eyes and red cheeks.

Coal looked towards the night sky and let out a very deep almost growling sigh. "We've got a lot of explaining to do haven't we?" He asked Blake, hoping she had some way of escaping the coming situation. Unfortunately she had no ideas that seemed realistic.

"Boyfriend Coal!" Came the call of an over exited Penny "It is sensational to see you once more!"

"Damn it Penny… Can't breathe." He managed to say. Not only was his body in tremendous amounts of pain from overusing his summoning, but the added slaps and spears from the females were not helping in the slightest. He was sure that in any moment he would pass out, but he was determined to stay upright to at least return home and see his sister.

* * *

Weiss was marching through the streets of Vale. After getting a message from Ruby that she had not only found Blake but also her twin brother, Weiss immediately set off to meet with them. A week and a half and her brother had finally returned. And she also had Blake to deal with. When she found them, Coal was sitting on a wooden crate speaking to a member of the police force… Hands behind his back in handcuffs.

"Look I'm telling you Mr. Police guy, I did not cause any of those explosions." Coal tried to explain.

*BOOM*

Everyone looked over to where the fight had just taken place. A large fireball erupted from the aftermath of the battlefield.

 _ **Shit, I think we forgot about one of the swords**_

"See! It couldn't have been me… Heh, heh" Coal said with a small sweat drop forming.

"COAL!" Came the shout of his twin, getting the attention of everyone. Ruby ran up to girl.

"It's ok Weiss, he's not being arrested yet they just needed to put him in handcuffs when he tried to run… Blake stopped him by holding onto his ear. Oh, and you don't have to be angry at her either, she explained the whole thing and she really does have kitty ears that are actually really kind of cute."

"Sup Snow Angel!" Coal shouted as he broke the handcuffs with his strength alone and opened his arms out wide. Weiss ran towards him, tears forming in her eyes. He was really here, he looked unharmed and genuinely happy. He had also reverted back to his original hair colour, one of the few things that confirmed them as siblings. She had missed him so much and was so worried about his wellbeing that she would cry herself to sleep most nights. Now that he was finally back she couldn't help but run to his open arms… And drop kick him square in the jaw.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!" She demanded, parallel with the ground.

"Damn Baby Sis!" Coal said climbing back to his feet resetting his jaw. "Them heels are painful." He said but was quickly engulfed in a hug from his twin.

"You dolt! I was worried sick about you!" She cried into his chest. Coal's expression softened as he returned the hug to his sister who refused to let go of him. "I don't know what I would do if you never came back."

"I'm sorry Weiss." He apologised.

"Welcome back Frosty." Weiss said though her voice was muffled due to having her face in his chest. She was so glad that he had finally come home and seeing that he had also reverted back to his original hair colour she was overcome with joy. Though she did have one other person to deal with. Weiss released her brother and turned to face the Faunus of her team who held a worried expression. Coal noticed this and moved to stand beside the Faunus in support, only to be tripped by his twin and land face down in the dirt. "Stay out of this one." She said emotionlessly.

 _ **Once again, we are floored by one of our sisters…**_

' _Least things haven't changed while we were away'_

"Weiss I -" Blake made to explain herself before she also ended up on the floor only to be interrupted by the Schnee girl. Something that Blake was starting to realise that they both did regularly.

"Blake I don't care … I already knew you were a Faunus and also part of the White Fang."

"How did you…" Blake said confused. Weiss kicked her downed brother in the side lightly with the side of her heeled boot to gesture him.

"This dolt told me, before he told you guys about our past."

"That was nearly two weeks ago!" Blake said surprised. As coal stood back up, she sucker punched him in the gut out of annoyance. Once again putting him on the floor. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT SHE KNEW!"

Weiss answered for her winded twin. "It was quiet the shock to say the least but he did make me promise to not say anything about it until he came back. I should also apologise for some of the things that I said about the Faunus, so for that I am truly sorry. But just so you know… I really do despise the White Fang!" She got right up in Blake's face and continued. "I don't know why he trusts you. But I trust his gut more than I trust whatever it was you were about to say. So long as he is ok with you… then so am I." And with that, she backed off from the Faunus with a small smile. She would hold her brother responsible for her and her actions, she really did not understand how her twin could trust the Faunus so much. However, she would bury her doubts, for now at least as Blake had yet to actually do anything wrong. The fact alone that her twin had come back and sought out the Faunus was enough for Weiss to also try and have faith in the Faunus as well. Though she did need to beat her brother senseless for not telling her that he was back. "Oh and by the way… The next time something this big comes up, don't get this idiot involved. He has a bad habit of blowing things out of proportion, both literally and figuratively. Instead you come to us, your teammates, we are your friends after all." She finished once again playfully kicking her downed twin.

"Of course." Blake smiled also at the assurance that she was once again part of the team. She was still slightly pissed at Coal for revealing her secret without her permission, but, because he had done so Weiss had been given a lot more time to accept her than the rest of her team. She sent a small genuine smile to the boy who was once again attempting to stand up. his own childish smile still present.

"Yeah Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheered as she jumped at her teammates and engulfed them both in a hug at the same time. A small control box fell out the Faunus' pocket. Ruby bent down to pick it up out of politeness. "What's this do?" She questioned as she pressed the button.

* * *

Coal woke up to the smell of disinfectant and a very uncomfortable bed. His eyes were heavy and he could barely make out anything in the room but seeing that the walls were a pale blue was enough to ensure him that he hadn't woken up back in the asylum. That was good enough for him.

Grunting as he sat up, he was ushered back down by someone who he couldn't quite see clearly. Though he did recognise the scent of the person, along with the voice that ordered him.

"Just lie down Frosty! You're not well enough to move yet." Weiss ordered her twin. Refusing to listen to the girl he forced himself into a sitting position, grunting in pain all the way. "Seriously will you just lie down!"

"What happened?" Coal growled through gritted teeth. The pain behind his voice worried his twin. His vision was too blurry to make it out clearly but he could smell it. His sister probably hadn't showered in days.

"You've been unconscious for five days…" Weiss said quietly giving up on forcing her brother back down and casting her eyes down to the ground rubbing her arm. Coal knew she was hiding something. Her voice was shallow and haunting, a voice which he had not heard since he had first returned from the institute all those years ago.

"What. Happened?" He asked again, daring her to hide the truth again with his tone.

"YOU DIED OKAY!"

Coal's eyes widened in shock, though he still couldn't see past his nose. "What?"

"You died… The collar you were wearing sent enough electricity though you to stop your heart." Weiss said quietly as she remembered her brothers lifeless body lying in the streets. "Electricity not only killed you, but it also brought you back."

She threw herself at her twin and wrapped him in a crushing hug. The hug sent more pain through the boy's already sore body, but he hid his fear well for the sake of his sister. She buried her face into his shoulder as she started to cry a river of tears. "You reckless idiot! Why were you wearing something like that!" She demanded to know. Increasing the pressure of her hug almost strangling the boy.

"I couldn't take the risk." Coal said softly wrapping his left arm around his sister. his right hurt too much to move it. "If something were to go wrong I needed to be put down."

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!" Weiss shouted.

Coal regretted saying that. He had no intention of saying anything like that to his twin, but at least he was honest. He rattled his head for something to say, anything to reassure the girl. However, nothing came to mind. He just sat and let his sister cry into his shoulder, stroking her snowy hair unable to say anything at all.

"Come on." Weiss said, releasing him from the hug when he never answered her. "Everyone is waiting." She stood up and walked to the door expecting her brother to have followed. She looked back to see her brother looking down at his legs, fists tightly clenching the bedsheets above his legs. His right hand was twitching furiously while his left remained perfectly still, almost lifeless. Weiss smiled knowingly at the sight, knowing the reason behind the different subconscious actions. In one hand, he held his fear and suffering which he had been bottling up for years and in the other, he held his courage and determination to remain himself. She knew that her twin may have been in a lot of physical pain, but it was a pain that she knew all too well herself. She had been in that position many, many years ago herself. Unable to move, confined to a bed in a great deal of pain. She walked to the opposite side of the bed where a wheelchair was waiting and carefully wrapped her brothers arm around her neck helping him into the chair with many grunts and groans escaping from his throat despite his best efforts to keep them down. She moved behind the chair and began to wheel him outside of his room when she said. "How the tables have turned."

Coal gave a soft laugh. "Enjoy it while you can sis… I don't plan on staying down for long."

"You never do." Weiss smiled. She wheeled him further through the hospital in silence after that. And eventually outside into the warm daylight of the sun. Coal blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the natural light, his vision returning slightly as he was wheeled into the courtyard. To be met by a sight that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Outside the doors of the hospital stood all his friends from Beacon. Teams RWBY, JNPR, even Velvet and Penny made an appearance, all holding a large white banner with hand painted pictures of his swords, gun and Grimm with the words: Welcome Home! As soon as he was within range they all shouted at the same time.

"WELCOME HOME!" Though he did ignore Yang's addition of "Dumbass" at the end of her shout.

They all waited for a response from the boy. he was just sitting in his chair silently staring at them with a dumbfounded expression wondering if he was actually dreaming all of this. They were all surprised when he just started to quietly laugh. His volume increased until he abruptly stopped, clutching his stomach in pain having laughed so hard. He looked back towards them with a kind childish smile as tears started to form at the edge of his eyes. Blurring his vision once more.

Blake stepped forward from the group and presented the boy with small case, placing it on his legs in the chair.

"This is from all of us." She said as she opened the case for him showing him what was inside.

A revolver. Much like his previous one. The entire weapon was a dull matte black even the grip of the gun was black. His vision may have been blurred but he could just about make out the inscription along the barrel of the weapon. Inscribed in a piercing, lightly illuminated frost white was its name: Forgiven Sins.

Weiss watched from above as a few of her brothers tears fell and landed along the gift. His breathing became quick and uneven, as the tears fell quicker and quicker along down on his new weapon. He lifted his head and showed his tear ridden face and the most thankful and happy expression that even Weiss had ever seen.

"Good to be home." He said though a shaky voice. Realising that for the first time in five years, he had no headache, no voices and no place he would rather be.

By leaving, he had found himself. By coming back, he had found his home.

* * *

Roman walked into his hideout, beyond frustrated that his heist had been foiled by a bunch of kids and that damned executioner. He knew as soon as the boy had shown up that he would probably not make it out alive yet he did somehow escape with his life by literally a few inches. He placed a case containing all he had managed to steel that night and left out a relieved yet annoyed sigh.

"How very disappointing Roman."

"Whoa!" Roman jumped turning to face the alluring voice that came from behind him. "Wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon." He chuckled out.

"We were expecting more from you." Said a beautiful raven haired woman in a form fitting red dress. Roman laughed some more.

"You were the once who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the white fang."

"And you will continue to do so." The woman said igniting a small fireball in her hand. "We have big plans for you Roman. All we ask is a little cooperation."

"You expect me to go back in there when the Atlas Executioner is roaming around… Oh hell no!" Roman argued. He noticed the woman twitch ever so slightly at the name. "I value my life a lot more than that! He almost killed me, you do not understand how lucky I got!"

"Don't worry about him…" She said. "I know someone who will want to see him again."


	20. Chapter 20

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

IM BACK BITCHES!

First of all. Thank you for all you guys who patiently waited for this chapter to come out. I've been busting my ass to finish my overall timeline for his volume and because of how long it is taking me, I just had to write something, for one stupid reason… I just couldn't help myself.

On With the chapter! Hope you all enjoy this little epilogue/prologue to Volume 2

* * *

Chapter 20: A New Beginning, To A Fated End

"So, tell me doc…" Coal spoke with a hollow quiet voice. "How does it look?" Sat across a bald man I a white lab coat, Coal was shaking furiously awaiting the doctors answer over his condition. From what started as routine check-up after being discharged from the hospital after his near departure from the land of the living a few weeks ago, had evolved into more routine tests and examinations upon orders from the General and his older sister. and for good reason too. Coal had become gradually weaker over the last few weeks and it was down to one simple reason… The engraving on his back.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Valiant." The doctor sighed after overlooking the latest test results that he had just taken. "It is looking far worse than I expected it to. It appears that not only is the dust that infused into you giving you greater strength, but it is also destroying your body from the inside. Quite literally your body is starting to deteriorate and before long, you will go into a comatose state before you die in your sleep from organ failure."

"How long do you think I have before I pass?" Coal asked absorbing the news and not letting it disturb him so that he could get all the answers he needed.

"It's unclear as the rate of decay has increased slightly. But at the current rate, I would not advise you to study up on any subjects that you would be taking next year. You will not survive that long." The doctor explained before putting down the clipboard and picking up a classified file on his deck. "General Ironwood has already given me all the research that he and yourself have collected in regards to extracting the dust, after adding that to my own findings… Needless to say that while the outlook doesn't look to promising, it is a far better option than waiting for the end Mr. Valiant."

"That file is bullshit!" Coal almost yelled before he managed to regain his composure. "I only have a 24% chance to survive the entire process."

"That may be true." The doctor agreed. "However, for the operation to be successful, we would need you to be in the fittest condition you can be. that will increase the percentage slightly. The longer you wait, the lower your survival rate is…"

"I just need more time." Coal said balling his fists in frustration at himself. "I need to research this more. I can improve it…"

"Mr Valiant. I hate to be negative in situations like this but unfortunately, time is something that you have very little of." The doctor said truthfully. "The general assigned me to be your physician all those years ago so that I could save your life Mr. Valiant not watch you throw it away because of childish reasons. I'm sorry that there is no other alternative, though it is already a miracle that you have survived for seven years bonded with such an unstable energy source." With his piece said the doctor got up from his seat and left the room closing the door behind him. Waiting just outside the room, was General Ironwood himself.

"How did he take it?" the General asked.

"I hate that you asked me to be so harsh with him James." The doctor sighed as he and the General walked the corridors of the hospital. "He is only a child, are you sure this approach is the best one?"

"It's the only one left Lucian." Ironwood sighed. "How many years have we put into this research and come out with a measly 24% chance. Think about what that means to him, how can he sentence himself to take a slim chance at surviving something that has never been successfully done to begin with."

"I know that James. I was his therapist as well after all, so I know him just as well as you do if not better." The doctor said. "Either way, he could end up breaking his promise to his twin…"

"That is what is stopping him." The General said rubbing his tired eyes. "He cares to much about her to risk leaving her. He can't put his faith in something that he won't be doing himself."

"What do you mean?"

"You only know him from the short sessions you had with him so you wont understand the way he tackles the situations when he if forced into a corner. He relys very little on the people around him if at all. If something needs done he will do it himself, so to put his trust into someone else… It goes against everything he knows. If he could operate on himself, he would do it in a heartbeat even with a lower survival rate." When Ironwood saw that the doctor looked offended he back peddled. "It's not that he doesn't trust you Lucian. It's that he won't let anyone else play with his life but himself. He may not realise it, but he is actually trying to keep your hands clean of his own blood."

"How can such a child be so mature at the same time?"

"He has suffered enough to know when to be mature and he never had much of a childhood to begin with, so he never really grew out of it." The General laughed at the last part. "You have no idea how much trouble he gave me when I took him in."

"He once told me he replaced your prosthetic arm with a vibrator."

"Damn Runt!" The General sighed. though he couldn't help but laugh at the memory of the boy. "Though he did always bring a smile to the faces of the squad, hell even Winter smiled when he was around."

"You speak as though he was your own son James."

"Maybe…" Ironwood reached into his jacket and pulled out his wallet and opened it up to show a picture to the doctor. Standing in the middle of the picture was the general with a rather serious face despite the small smile pulling at the edge of his lip. He had one hand placed on a slightly younger looking Winter who donned a caring expression as she looked over out the corner of her eyes at her younger brother who was having his hair ruffled up by the general's other hand. Coal was around about fourteen in the picture and he wore his usual childish grin while he tried to pry away from the generals grip while also flipping off the camera with his free hand. "Those two are like my own children. Even though the Runt is a complete brat at time, I wouldn't have anyone else as a daughter or son."

* * *

Evening came and Blake picked up a book and headed out her dorm intending to go to the once place she knew where she would find the Human. The docks. Upon setting foot on the wooden pier, she immediately spotted the boy dangling his legs over the edge in the same exact spot that he always sat in with a fishing pole in his grip. She slowly walked up behind him and reached down to play with his hair slightly as she lowered herself down and leaned against his back. Once she settled into position she felt a hand reach under her bow and start to lightly tickle behind her cat ears causing her to purr slightly, a reaction she couldn't control but didn't mind doing in presence of the Human as this was how they greeted each other when they came here. Blake took a moment from her purring to start conversation. Something that she was becoming more accustom to, especially with Coal.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a soft tone. Coal stopped scratching the Faunus' ear and repositioned his grip on the pole.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Yourself?"

"I'm good thank you." Blake said. "Though I would be better if you stopped lying to me."

"Lying?"

"Coal I know when you're not telling the whole truth." Blake could have sworn she felt him tense up from the contact they shared. "Now what's wrong?"

"Nothing Blake…"

"Coal…"

"Ugh!" Coal sighed rather loudly. "I'm just sick of being grounded."

"Yet you constantly leave the school despite you being grounded." Blake giggled.

"What can I say." He shrugged. "I'm a free spirit. Winter may scare the crap out of me but I cant stay cooped up in my room forever."

"The only time you spend in there anyway is because the rest of us use it as a hang out."

"Yeah and?"

"Ive caught you asleep in the library more times that I want to recall."

"Okay first off im sorry!" Coal apolagised. "I still cant control that reflex."

"That's not what im bothered about." Blake asured as she ruffeled his hair once more, gigging at the fact that no matter what she did to it, it simply would spring back into place. "You will gain control of it eventually."

"Somethings are just out of our control Kitten." Coal said with an experienced mannor. "I can distort time, summon deceased Grimm, but I cannot control a simple reflex. Hell I cant even swim!"

"You can't swim?" Blake scoffed disbelievingly.

"Not even doggy paddle." Coal smirked as he felt his entire body relax for the first time in a while.

"Hey!" Blake said getting irritated. "Don't change the subject, what's bothering you?" Coal sighed once more as he realised that he couldn't get anything passed the Faunus. He remained silent as he thought about telling her everything. His remaining time, his mark slowly killing him and the constant phone calls he had been getting recently.

As if to clarify his turmoil, his scroll rang once more. He pulled out the device with was blasting the sound of a British idiot imitating the sound of a bird call that was more like a terrified yell of fear. [Insert any of Gavin's cries here.] He looked at the caller ID once more and let the device ring and ring until it timed out again and simply huffed at the device in his hands.

"Not important?" Blake asked from behind him, she never got a chance to see the caller ID mainly because she respected the boys privacy and didn't bother to look. Coal clenched his fist around the scroll and crushed the device in his hand and threw it deep into the water.

"Not important." Coal clarified smiling in satisfaction. Blake couldn't help but giggle at his actions. Everything he did seemed so over dramatic it was just too funny for her to not laugh at. she found him to be one of the funniest people she had met despite his terrible jokes and actions. But that was what she had needed, he hadn't just broken down her walls, he utterly demolished them by blowing them up. though she was completely honest with him, she was still annoyed that he was hiding things from her. Were they not closer than that?

"You still haven't told me what's wrong." Blake said again not letting up about the subject. She heard Coal sigh once more into the night sky before he started to speak to her.

"My father keeps trying to call me…" He told Blake technically not lying. He figured that by telling her one truth he could avoid explaining the other one.

"That's what those calls are?"

"Yeah." Coal informed. "Well, his personal assistant anyway. She keeps trying to call me on my father's behalf for what I can only presume to invite me back to the family."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not from where I stand."

"But your sitting." Blake quipped trying to bring back his humour.

"Regardless of what ever bodily position I'm in, it is still a bad thing." Coal lightly laughed causing Blake to smile also at the return of his personality. "The only reason he would want me back is so that Weiss will go back with me and then he can force her into a singing career again."

"But she's worked so hard here and come so far!" Blake argued. "Why would he force her to do something she doesn't wat to do?"

"Cause he is a fucking arsehole." Coal shrugged. "That's why I won't answer the calls. But he, well she anyway, won't let up."

"Want some advice?"

"Are you going to give me a choice this time? Or are you just going to pin me down and slap me some more?"

"I will slap you if you don't shut up for once."

…

"That's better." Blake smirked as shifted her position to sit next to him and lean her head on his shoulder. "You need to stop trying to do everything alone. Talk to Weiss, see what she has to say on the matter. Maybe between the two of you, you can come up with a solution which satisfies you both." Coal glanced at the girl on his shoulder from the corner of his eyes and smiled softly at the sight, once again confused by the gut feeling which told him both to run far away and rest his head against hers at the same time. Choosing to do neither, he simply looked back out at the water and muttered in defeat.

"I hate it when your right…"

"When am I ever wrong." Blake stated rather than asked.

"Well there was the time you compared me to your ex…"

"When did I do that?" Blake asked lifting her head to glare daggers at him.

"In Frostpoint… When I killed that guy." Coal clarified, Blake's eyed dropped in sorrow as she repositioned her head on his shoulder. Recalling the events that took place that night in the blizzard.

"I am sorry about that…" She said quietly. "I was wrong. Your nothing like him."

"Still a killer so I am similar." Coal shrugged not really caring anymore, he had gotten over the comparison quickly at the time but he just couldn't stop himself from mentioning it to the Faunus once more.

"No… You're a soldier." Blake reminded him getting a look in return. "And a child and an idiot and a complete tool and a…"

"Okay, okay I get it!" Coal laughed.

"But your also kind, caring and considerate… Gentle even." Blake finished but before she could stop herself she added one more thing. "And I like that."

"Huh?" Coal looked at her with a slight red tint to his cheeks. Baffled by the Faunus' honest tone.

"I um…" Blake tried before she noticed the colour of his face. "14-11! I'm pulling ahead Fluffles."

"Damn it Kitten that's just playing dirty!" Coal laughed as he regained his composure. Blake inwardly sighed with relief at the save. Why had she let that slip? Why was she even thinking something like that. He was a human and she was a Faunus, there shouldn't be anything between them. There couldn't be? Could there? She was broken from her thoughts when Coal abruptly jumped to his feet, retracting the line swiftly while pulling back on the rod in order to reel in his catch. "Come on you little bugger… **I'm hungry!"** He yelled as he yanked hard on the road, just as the line snapped and from the force he was pulling he sent himself flying backwards and landing hard on his back. Blake looked at his fallen form before bursting out in a fit of laughter as he sat upright rubbing the back of his head trying to rid it of the pain his fall had caused. He was thankful that Blake was now doubled over in laughter as he wiped a small trickle of blood escaping from his nose before the Faunus could see it, or more importantly smell it from her enhanced senses.

"Your such an idiot." Blake laughed as she wiped a tear from her eye. She continued to laugh as she strode over to him and offered him a hand up. "Come on its getting late and classes start back up in a few days. Im sure Ruby will have something planned for us all for the last few days of our break."

"Ugh don't remind me." Coal complained as he took Blake by the hand and climbed to his feet. "More time down the drain." He complained.

"Well if you stopped pulling all-nighters to study the stuff we are about to learn then maybe you won't be wasting time in class by sleeping."

"I'm basically nocturnal Blake." Coal argued grinning like a child. "Can't help myself."

"Maybe you should do something to wear yourself out before you go to bed." Blake suggested.

"Such as?"

"I don't know… Read or something."

"What do you think I do when I study?" They argued all the way back to the academy though they wouldn't call it a real argument. They simply sent sly digs at each other as they walked in the moonlight cast over them from its shattered pieces. Smiling at each other the whole time.

* * *

When Coal returned to his room he found his sister sitting on his bed bouncing excitedly and hiding something behind her back

"Guess what I've found!" Weiss sang excitedly as she bounced on her knees hiding a book behind her back. One she had found just moments ago amongst her vast amount of belongings.

"Your mind?"

"Ugh you dolt!" She hit the book over his head before showing him exactly what she hit him with. "I found our photo album!" she squealed presenting the book to him. Coal rubbed his sore head before taking the book and looking it over. A few seconds passed before he hit his sister over the head just like she had done moments ago. "OW! What was that for?"

"Paybacks a bitch." Coal giggled before moving over to the sofa and sitting down making space for his twin to sit next to him. He sat the book between them and opened it up to be swamped with a mass of baby pictures of them both. "Oh hell no skip those." And he immediately started flicking through pages.

"Wait I wanna see." Weiss instructed as she pulled the book over to her side and flicked back to see the baby pictures of them both. "Aww. You were so cute!" She cooed.

"I was not!" Coal spat looking hurt. "Never say that."

"Oh shush you. Or ill show them to the rest of my team." Weiss dared narrowing her eyes at the boy who slouched down in silence. "That's what I thought." After cooing at all the baby pictures of herself and her twin she flicked forward and cooed once more at a picture of them both sat on Winter's lap when they were about two years old. Weiss was dressed in a snowy white dress while her twin was in a snow white suit of his own.

"What the hell did they put me in!" Coal laughed at himself looking very discomforted in the picture.

"It must have been the only time you looked half decent… Are you flipping off the camera?" Weiss teased him.

"Don't I always?." He shot back snatching the book from his twin.

"Yeah, yeah. What's next?" Coal turned to the next page for his twin and found a picture of them both when they were about five, Weiss was in her wheelchair with her twin standing behind it pushing her around the gardens of their family estate. "I don't remember that one." Weiss said gazing down at the image.

"I think Frostbite took that one, she did always tend to keep an eye on us remember." Weiss nodded before reaching across to turn through some more pages of them as children. She stopped when she came to a picture with was taken when they were about eight.

"Oh I remember that day!" she cheered snatching the book back to examine the picture further. She was standing over her twin holding a wooden sword pointing it at her brother throat looking like she just bested him in combat. Though Coal was on the floor he had a massive grin plastered on his face ruining the serious moment portrayed by this twin.

"Yeah me too. One of the few days where you had no issues moving around."

"That's what you remember?" Weiss said looking offended. "That was our eighth birthday you dummy."

"Oh yeah… I ended up stuck in bed for a week when Winter brought you that damn puppy."

"I still can't believe you were allergic to him…"

"I still can't believe you wanted to keep him!"

"Why wouldn't we, he was so cute!"

"Oh give over and keep going." Coal laughed getting a grin from his twin as she continued looking through the book. When she skipped past a page he stopped her and ushered her to go back. "Wait what was that one?"

"Which one?"

"Who was that?"

"No one."

"Weiss…" Coal snatched the book back and flicked back to the picture that he caught a glimpse of. Weiss was trying to stop him by trying to take the book back, unfortunately when he held the book away from her out of her reach she gave up and let him see the picture of her standing alongside a boy with dark brown hair and matching eyes, Weiss also had a small red tint to her cheeks. Both looked like they were around about ten. "And who the hell is he!"

"Just a friend…"

"Weiss..."

"Okay, okay sheesh. I may have had a… slight crush on him."

*Click*

"Put the gun away you dolt!" Weiss said finally being able to take the book back while her brother was distracted with thoughts of killing her first schoolgirl crush. "It wasn't anything more than that." She stated as she continued to look through the book. When she came to a one with a picture of her twin in a very formal suit and a pretty girl with purple hair…

"Don't give a shit." Coal spat.

"Me either." Weiss also spat and continued looking through the book. After that, the pictures became fewer and fewer. Each picture also became slightly more painful to look at as they came to the point in their lives when their kidnapping took place. All of a sudden the pictures showed Weiss standing alone looking very hollow eyed and forcing a smile for the pictures sake. It was obvious that she was in a bad place mentally at the time the photos were taken.

"I never meant to leave you alone for so long you know." Coal said softly, taking his sister by the hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I know Frosty, I know." Weiss smiled at her twin showing that she was okay. "You had Winter to watch out for you so I knew you were okay when you joined the military and you always did come back regular enough. I just really missed you."

"I missed you too you know." Coal chuckled shifting so that he could wrap his twin in a light hug as she flicked through more pages. As they continued on through their teenage years the photos grew colourful again. Coal appeared in more and more pictures as they went on and Weiss' smiles grew more and more real. Weiss stopped at a picture taken on their fifteenth birthday. She was dressed in a formfitting white gown while her brother stood alongside her wearing a white suit and blue tie. Both looked quite serious as they were attending an evening party that was arranged with her father's associates.

"Ugh that was a horrible evening." Weiss grumbled.

"No shit… When we weren't hiding, we were running away." Coal agreed.

"You just wanted to escape from her." Weiss smirked at her twin.

"Hey! You don't like her either so shut it." Coal snapped back. "I don't think I'll ever get over that night."

"Me either… I never thought I would be thankful for something about you getting kicked out the family." Weiss sighed in frustration.

"Whoa Whoa baby sis… I know you don't like her but damn lass."

"She's a class A bitch."

"Agreed, let's keep going were almost at the end." Which they were. The final page held only one picture taken about a week before they set out for their new lives, before the duel with their father, before they found where they truly belonged. Lying beneath a white cherry blossom tree lay the twins each with their swords lying next to them, Coal's ice forged sword half melted in the sunlight. They were lying against each other side by side, Weiss resting her head on her brother's shoulder while he rested his head on top of his sisters. Both were sound asleep.

"We never could stay apart could we?" Weiss said smiling down at the photo.

"Took a lot to keep us apart. Even father couldn't separate us no matter." Coal said smiling also, subconsciously letting his twin finish.

"How hard he tried." Weiss finished a she pulled out her scroll and maneuverer to take a selfie of her and her twin. "One more for the album."

"Fine just don't get my good side. Don't want to show you up Snow Angel." Coal teased as he looked at the camera.

"Oh please Frosty. You know you don't have a good side."

In a moment their album had one new picture. Weiss and Coal sitting cheek to cheek. Coal also flipping off the camera while Weiss stuck her fingers up behind her twins head imitating bunny ears. Both twins were smiling cheerfully, just like the little children they truly were at heart. When Weiss when to head back to her room still clutching the book, Coal stopped her and started to flex his right fist nervously.

"Hey Weiss…" He spoke timidly as his twin looked at him with concern. "Can I hold onto that for a while?" Weiss smiled before handing him the book and left him to get some sleep.

"Don't stay up too late Frosty." Weiss instructed him as she left. "Your still human after all and you need your sleep just as much as the rest of us."

"I know Snow Angel, I'm going I'm going you don't have to pull a Winter on me." Coal sighed as he padded over to his bed and flopped down.

"At least you listen to her!" Weiss laughed as she closed the door and left her twin for the night. Unable to fall asleep, Coal spent the entire night looking over the memories that he had made with his twin. Wondering how many more he could make before his time eventually ran out.


	21. Chapter 21

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N Chapter 21: The Soldier, The Monster, The Child

The end of a two week break between semesters. Not only did it bring excitement to the students at Beacon because of the new classes and chances to best one another in combat, the ever sense of the Vital Festival just around the corner and the tournament at the end of the year, but it also had the majority of the teens somewhat down at the same time. The end of two weeks completely free of classes and responsibilities, being able to take advantage of the freedom had left teams RWBY and JNPR exhausted and bored. Some more than others…

"COAL WAKE UP!" Weiss screamed at her twin who was lying face down in his breakfast. Said teen blinked his eyes open and with a massive yawn, straightened up in his seat at the edge of the group. Blake glanced at his as she shut her book, one she had wrote herself about her time with the white fang, though she was adamant that it wasn't a diary, she was glad when no one asked what she was reading.

"I told you that researching all night was a bad idea." Blake reminded the boy as he pried a piece of bacon from his cheek and ate it.

"I'm fine, just sleepy…" Coal yawned again as he fell back down and started to snore lightly. Weiss rolled her eyes at her twin.

"Once more he is a huge embarrassment on me." She sighed. "Sometimes I question how we are related."

"It can't be that bad." Yang assured as she caught a berry in her mouth thrown by Nora from the table opposite. "I wonder what has him so fixated on researching this time."

"I don't know…" Weiss said sadly.

"Its fine." Yang waved off. "I'm sure Blake knows. Those two are always disappearing for hours at a time, not telling anyone where they go, who knows how many… _intimate_ secrets they've shared." She teased her partner casting her a wink. Blake just scoffed and rolled her eyes not giving the blond any time of day as she cast another glance at the sleeping boy, once again regretting the fact that she read so much smut. More than once she had explained that she and Coal simply went fishing and only talked, sure they may have shared a few secrets that they would keep solely to themselves, but Yang didn't need to know that. Thankfully, Coal wasn't awake to see her cheeks redden slightly…

"19-19" Coal smirked at his eyes popped open and he sat up straight, stretching his arms high above his head. "All tied up Kitten." Yang smirked at the two as she cast her own opinion on the matter.

"Bet she wouldn't mind that." She slurred.

"OKAY!" Weiss said as she slammed her palms on the table and stood up, pulling on the back of Yang's collar she dragged the blond away from the table. "We need to have a little talk." Coal and Blake just watched the abduction with confused faces.

"What's up with them?" Coal asked as he pulled out a can of beer from thin air and pulled on the tab.

"Not a clue, will you not drink that right now. It's not even ten o'clock yet."

"And your point is?"

"You have a problem." Blake said with a gritty tone daring the boy do deny it. Though he did acknowledge internally that the Faunus wasn't wrong.

"Again, your point is?"

"Ugh. why can't you just quit." Blake scoffed with a tone that more told him to do so than to answer her back. Unfortunately, Coal didn't catch on.

"I can quit drinking any time I want." He assured.

"Again, why don't you?"

"Because I don't want to yet." Coal shrugged.

With Yang and Weiss, they were having an entirely different conversation. As soon as Weiss had pulled her teammate out of range, she pointed a perfectly manicured nail at the blond as she questioned her intentions.

"Okay Yang just what the hell are you implying here?" Weiss demanded. "You have been teasing them both for the entire break and now it's just getting weird." Yang only shrugged as she responded.

"Oh please, like you can't see it."

"See what?"

"That they are into each other."

"Well duh!" Weiss scoffed as she back off slightly. "Of course I can see it, hell even Ruby can probably see it…"

"Well…"

"Okay, maybe Ruby is to innocent to notice…" Weiss agreed. "But seriously Yang do you need to keep bringing it up? Especially with all those, details. I don't want those mental images!"

"Come on Weiss." Yang pleaded. "They need the push! The tension between them is enough for half the school to get off!"

"Don't remind me…"

"Exactly! so what do you say, wanna work together and help them out?" Yang smirked as she held out a hand for Weiss to shake. Weiss just eyed the hand as she contemplated accepting the deal. Sure she would finally get her twin in his first real relationship and true she could tell by the way he looked at the Faunus that there was something more going on than he was admitting to, but what did Yang stand to gain from getting them together.

"And just what are you getting out of all this?" Weiss questioned waiting to hear an answer before she agreed. Yang looked to the sky for a few moments needing to think of exactly why she was willing to 'assist'.

"Entertainment." Yang shrugged. Weiss shook her head as she shook the blonds hand, wondering if she was really going to regret this decision…

"Damn it Blake that wasn't fair!"

"Then you should have just done as I said!"

Yang and Weiss looked back to where they left the two and instantly face palmed simultaneously. Blake had stolen the can of beer from Coals grip and when he had reached across to take the can back, she had used her semblance to blink out of the way causing him to fall forwards onto the bench with Blake now sitting on his back as he struggled to sit back up. Weiss sighed once more as she turned back to the blond as they walked back over to the table.

"Do they even need us to get involved?" Weiss asked just as Ruby appeared beside her carrying a rather thick binder.

"Get involved in what?" Ruby asked. Yang cupped her sister's cheeks so that she could turn Ruby's head towards the scene where Coal had managed to get his hands on a very sneakily and conveniently placed pie, curtesy of Jaune, and take aim at the Faunus who still had him pinned down. "Oh no…" Ruby huffed as she watched Coal throw the pastry at the Faunus who had seen it coming from the very start.

* * *

Outside the dining hall, Sun was walking alone side his best friend and one of his teammates, Neptune Vasilias. A talk handsome looking teen with bright blue hair and eyes, he also had a set of yellow tinted goggles strapped around his forehead.

"Man, that's scary…" Neptune whistled as he listened to his friend's story of how he came to meet team RWBY.

"I know right…" Sun exclaimed as he started to emphasise the point he was trying to make. "I mean it was nothing compared to the last time I saw him summoning but damn those things are way too powerful just to be regular Grimm! And that girl as well, the Faunus… But no one knows that so keep that part a secret yeah."

"Dude I got you." Neptune assured as he nodded in acceptance. "Was she hot?"

"I'd say at least a decent eight out of ten." Sun shrugged before getting back on track. "Anyway, she literally just went right up to him and slapped him right across the face, while he was still in rage mode!"

"She must have some balls."

"To slap an executioner while he is turning… Fuck yeah!"

"What happens when his eyes turn red anyway?" Neptune asked. "You never actually told us that story."

"Okay I'll tell you but only if you don't run off and tell Scarlet."

"Dude..."

"Okay, okay so I was pickpocketing this really rich looking dude when…"

Sun was cut short as the window to his right shattered and landing in front of him was a very excited white haired teen.

"Fuck me, that was the last thing I needed right now… Oh hey Sun!" Coal said as he lay flat down on the ground holding his sore head.

"Do I even want to know what's happening?" Sun chucked as he held out a hand to assist the downed soldier. Coal gratefully accepted the hand up and informed the Faunus of what happened.

"Have you ever wondered what happens when you throw a pie in a girls face before?"

"You didn't did you?" Sun asked hoping that the boy wasn't completely out of his mind.

"No I missed my real target…" Coal assured. "But I still hit my sis square in the jaw with it, technically it was Jaune's fault for giving me the ammo to begin with, but now there's a massive food fight going on." Sun could only laugh at the brief summary.

"Why does everything you do literally explode in your face?" Sun asked.

"Who knows…" Coal shrugged as he looked to the sky wondering which demonic overlord hated him. "I need more books so you guys are free to join in the theatrics if your bothered." Coal finished as he walked off from the two teens and headed for the city of Vale casting a wave over his shoulder out of politeness. Sun and Neptune proceeded into the dining hall, coming face to face with a standoff between teams RWBY and JNPR. Sun could only grin at the sight.

"Man, I love these guys!"

"Tukson!" Coal shouted as he walked into his typical book store looking for more research materials. "Yo Tukson, you got my order in yet?" Something wasn't right. Not only was the store meant to be closed at such an early hour but for some reason the door had been left unlocked. Coal was beyond baffled by the carelessness of a store owner in Vale who would leave his shop unoccupied and unlocked in a time where crime was spiking through the roof.

 _ **Do you smell that?**_ Cobalt asked from within him. Coal took a quick sniff to ensure that he was getting the correct scent before another voice called out from deeper within his soul.

 _ **Blood…**_

Coal drew his revolver and cocked the hammer ensuring that he was ready to fire if necessary. Slowly creeping through the shop in the direction he could smell the scent, he walked around the counter and stopped upon seeing the body of the store owner, lying dead in a pool of blood. Coal sighed as she slowly crouched down to the man and tried to find a pulse, to no avail.

"Damn Tukson… What happened?" He questioned the dead man as he rose from the floor and began to inspect the unlit bookstore. He remembered his training from Ironwood when confronted with a situation that left him with little information. Sometimes it was best for a second opinion. "Cobalt?"

 _ **What?**_

"What do you make of all this?"

 _ **I only know what you know dumbass**_

"That's why I'm asking, as far as we know Tukson didn't have any enemies right?"

 _ **None that we were aware of… Oi Crimson?**_

 _ **What?**_

 _ **Sniff around will you.**_

 _ **To hungry**_

"Just do it you damn animal before I let Cobalt kill you again." Coal placed his palm to the wooden floor of the store and channelled his energy through the glyph on his back, summoning a small frost white beowolf in front of him, a Grimm which had the same glowing red eyes, unlike the boy's obsidian black ones. "Get to work and I'll let you eat." The beast growled and licked its fangs before starting to sniff around the store. Coal went back to inspect the body in hopes of finding some form of clue.

 _ **Body still feels slightly warm, couldn't have been dead for too long. Maybe killed a few hours ago…**_

"Agreed…" Coal said quietly to his inner self. "But that doesn't give us much to go on. Lots of tourists have come to Vale and the streets are packed enough as it is."

 _ **So, asking if anyone seen anyone come in to this store will basically be a waste of time.**_

"Precisely." Coal hummed before getting closer to inspect the body or more specifically, Tukson's hands. "Claws…"

 _ **He's a Faunus.**_

"Appears so…" Coal hummed again as he tried to piece what he could find together. "He went down fighting." Coal summarised as he examined the state of the small defensive wounds on the man's claws. Having found that information and storing it away in his mind for later he then proceeded up the body to examine the man's head, where two bullet holes were situated in the middle of his fore head.

 _ **Two shots to the head…**_

"Executioner style… Your style." Coal identified as he flicked his right wrist and crafted a very small and fine blade. He took the knife and started to poke around inside one of the bullet holes hoping to find a bullet. "Damn it's been a while since we had to do anything like this." He complained as he continued to dig around the man's head.

 _ **Sometimes I'm glad we aren't going on missions with the military anymore.**_

"I never thought I'd hear that from you!" Coal laughed. Eventually he managed to pull out a bullet fragment from inside the man's skull and started to examine the metal object. "Similar calibre to what we use… What the fuck is going on here?"

 _ **Given the body alone, most people would think it was us that kill him.**_

"But why would someone frame us for the murder of a regular Faunus?" Coal was interrupted from his thoughts as he heard Crimson utter a rather loud growl from the back room of the store. Leaving the body for now he proceeded further into the store to where he heard the growling. He found his Grimm counterpart hunched over a trunk inside a room at the very back of the store which had its door pried off its hinges. Something he knew the Grimm wouldn't have done. Sure, he may have given the animal a loose chain while he searched, but it still knew better than that. "Someone was looking for something." Coal summarised once more as the pieces started to fit together. Crimson moved out the way so that his master could examine what he had found in the trunk. A White Fang uniform.

 _ **That bastard was White Fang!**_ Cobalt yelled from inside. _**I'll kill the prick!**_

"He's already dead moron." Coal stated with his voice filled with hate. "But never the less… It's a damn good cover up. Someone thought they could frame us for killing a member of the white fang in cold blood while they ransacked the place and got whatever it was they needed. Regardless of the Faunus' connection to the terrorists, it would still be murder. One we would go down for if the right people connected the dots."

 _ **Then we need to get out of here now before shit gets serious**_

"Agreed." Coal smirked before he turned to look at the Grimm which sat on its hind legs, licking its fangs awaiting its treat. "Just don't leave anything behind okay. Nothing can come back to us." Coal ordered getting a very creepy grin form the beast before it padded off in search of the dead Faunus.

 _ **Only follows orders when food is involved**_

"Well what do you expect." Coal shrugged, ignoring the horrifying sounds of the beast as it gorged itself while he crafted his swords, implanting them around the store. The mere thought of what the beast was eating made him want to physically vomit, but to avoid the backlash from the man's death, sometimes horrible things needed to be done. Something he had gotten used to long ago. "Humans are still animals just as much as the Faunus no matter how much they try and deny it, looks as though that nature gets embodied into him."

 _ **So, what does that make me?**_

"An annoyance."

 _ **Oh fuck off before I kill you!**_

Crimson padded back into the back room where Coal stood alone conversing with himself, with a creepily satisfied grin plastered on its face. Coal watched at the beast licked the blood from its lips and shook his head in disgust as the beast started to purr in its own pleasure at the feeling of a full stomach. Coals eyes dimmed down and returned to their normal hue as the Grimm dissolved into thin air without a trace. "I trust you left nothing that can bite us in the ass?"

 _ **Not a thing… Sleepy…**_

 _ **Yeah that's right, awake for the food and sleep till the next meal. Fucking animal.**_

"Both of you shut it!" Coal yelled before remembering that he was technically in an undiscovered crime scene. He walked back over to what remained of the mutilated corpse and placed his palm next to the remains, leaving a red glyph filled with fire dust. "We should head back to Beacon and find ourselves and alibi."

 _ **What about our books?**_

"Oh, shit yeah!"

Exiting through the back door, carrying several books under one arm, Coal walked into a back ally where even some of the more, 'unsavoury' criminal folk wouldn't even dare use. He back tracked all the way back to Beacon with the one question still plaguing his mind. Who was smart enough to try and frame him for the murder of a person connected to the one thing in the world he hated most?

 _ **Torchwick?**_ Cobalt suggested.

"Not likely, the man may be a cunning bastard but he isn't behind this. The way he said that he was in business with the Fang made it seem as though they were level in the arrangement and that means one of two things… either the Faunus agree willing to work with a human and stand at the same height or they are being forced to work together from a higher third party."

 _ **Higher power then?**_

"Only obvious answer." Coal grinned. "Perhaps letting him live wasn't a mistake after all."

 _ **The living do tell better stories… I still wanted to kill him.**_

"You might still get your chance." Coal clicked his fingers. A fireball exploded out the window of the bookstore engulfing the flammable stock to ashes and everything else that was inside. A few of the passers by were thrown aside from the blast but other than a minor bruise or scrap they were otherwise unharmed. Coal however weaved through the disfigured and shocked crowd of bodies as he blended into his surroundings "This is going to eat up even more of our time isn't it?" Coal sighed. not only did he need to find out a way to get close enough to the White Fang to destroy them from the inside, he also needed to fabricate a means of increasing his survival rate for if he went under the knife to extract the dust and now, he needed to find out who was smart enough and had access to the correct equipment to fabricate rounds that were customised for his revolver and also murder a member of the White Fang that not even he himself had known about. He turned a corner and disappeared without a trace just as the sound of sirens arrived at the book store.

 _ **We should move onto phase 2 as soon as possible.**_

"Agreed. For now though, we head to the library at Beacon. They must have something we can use to research, otherwise we won't even get to complete this plan of yours."

* * *

Coal walked into the library hoping to find more research material. He smiled when he found his sister playing some sort of board game with the rest of her team and it appeared as though she was about to make a crushing move which was bound to ensure her victory by the sound of her maniacal laughter. Shrugging the research off for now, he started to walk over to where his twin was enjoying herself, hoping to make a few more happy memories with her and his friends… Just in case.

"Ha-ha Yes fear the almighty power of my forces, cower as they pillage you home and weep as they take your children from your very arms!" Weiss proclaimed standing over the board as though she were its dictator.

"Trap card." Yang countered before rearranging the board in her favour. "Your armies have been destroyed." Weiss collapsed in her chair in defeat.

"I hate this game of emotions we paly!" Weiss cried animatedly as ruby rushed in and hugged her for emotional support also crying animatedly herself.

"Stay strong Weiss." Ruby pleaded as she buried her head into Weiss' neck. "We will make it through this together!"

"Shut up don't touch me!" Weiss cried, slightly contradicting herself as she hugged Ruby closer.

"This is why I always let you win Snow Angel." Coal laughed as he appeared behind Blake causing the Faunus to leap an inch out her seat. Weiss cast her twin a warm smile which he returned in earnest.

"Will you stop doing that." She growled through closed teeth as she turned to glare at the boy.

"Doing what?" Coal smirked down as he met the Faunus' gaze. They stared into each others eyes for a moment. A moment that Yang would tease the Faunus for later.

"Hey Blake, it's your turn you know." The blond said as she relaxed into her seat folding her arms behind her head.

"Huh?" Blake questioned as she broke eye contact with the boy.

"Stop wasting time and make a move already." Yang winked implying something else entirely. Something which went straight over the head of a certain white hair boy but not his black-haired friend.

"Ugh!" Blake scoffed rolling her eyes. "Yang there is nothing going on between us."

"So, what did I miss anyway? What happened after Weiss threw me through the window?" Coal asked as he was unsure about what was happening between the two partners, this wasn't the first time he had seen Blake get irritated at something the blond had said.

"Well… Ruby kicked ass in the food fight, Weiss had a little moment when she passed out…

"I'm fine Frosty so don't worry about it." Weiss assured when the boys eyes snapped towards his twin.

"Yang literally fell out the sky." Blake continued getting back the boy's attention rather quickly.

"Speaking of which I got an amazing view of Vale while I was up there." Yang shrugged.

"And now we are apparently trying to concur the kingdoms of Remnant or something." Blake stated as she looked at her cards confused by the game.

"Sweet!" Coal cheered as he motioned for Blake to move over on her seat. "Bunch up and let me play too!" Blake did make space for him on the small chair for him despite the fact that there was very little to begin with thus they ended up sitting shoulder to shoulder. Blake moved her hand so that Coal could also examine the cards she held, he made a face which said that he was deep in thought over a potential strategy. Yang rolled her eyes at the two. Every day they would do something like this, a little gesture or flirtatious quip that would go mostly unnoticed by either of them as that was how they were used to interacting with each other by now. Yang hated that fact, she could tell they were closer than either of them realised and would be damned if she didn't get the together in the end. Even if it took her last dying breath, she would get them together. Jaune decided to make his appearance having been sat at a table across the way where the rest of his team was 'studying'.

"Can I play too?" He asked with enthusiasm.

"Sorry Jaune" Ruby shut him out while trying to ignore the boy sat next to Blake. "We already got four people."

"Besides." Weiss continued, not missing the fact that her partner had just blanked her twin by not even acknowledging that he had approached the table. "This game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess." Yang looked at Weiss with a doubtful expression.

"You attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago."

Blake rolled her eyes as she felt movement around her hand, Coal was busy raising and lowering cards in her hand as if starting to implement a strategy. After setting aside the cards he needed he leant back in the chair smirking in victory as if he already won the game and whispered the order of which to use the card in to the girl.

"Bring it on ice queen." Jaune smirked at knowing he finally found a nick name for the girl that wouldn't get him floored. "I'll have you know that I'm a natural born leader."

"By who?" Weiss questioned. "Your mother?"

"And Pyrrha!" Jaune clarified rather proudly. Said Spartan waved a hello to the group before returning to her comic which she snatched from Jaune earlier. "Come on let me play your hand for a turn." Weiss back away clutching her hand closer to her chest, refusing to let the blond touch the cards. As Jaune continued to plead with his twin, Coal leaned over to whisper in Blake's ear one more.

"He would actually be pretty decent at this game."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Well I've trained with him a few times, he is very observant and a brilliant tactician when he gets serious."

"Why not?" Jaune argued as once more Weiss turned him down, breaking the opposite spectrums form their private conversation. "You've trusted me with way more important stuff before. I mean you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fau-"

"Fun loving person!" Pyrrha interrupted as she dashed beside her partner and smacked a hand over his mouth silencing the blond. "Whom we all admire and respect." Blake just glared at them while Coal just laughed.

"I think that can go in my fails of the week montage." He chuckled to himself getting a glare from his best friend.

"Please don't make another one of those." Jaune begged remembering the humiliation that came with the last one that Coal had made and shown to the rest of Team JNPR.

"I won't J." Coal waved off while crossing his fingers behind his back. "Oh and before I forget to comment, I don't think that's the first time Pyrrha has left you speechless… Now if I recall it was Blake's turn." Blake flinched for a second before she remembered the order the boy had told her to use the cards that he pointed out to her. after completing her combo attack, she ended up completely annihilating Yang's army, inflicting a very devastating blow to Ruby's reinforcements and freezing Weiss preventing her from making any moves for two rounds.

"Why do I feel the need to make an obliterate reference right now…" Coal hummed.

"Well shit Blake…" Yang muttered. "Unless Ruby has a good move planned you basically got this in the bag."

"Um well…" Blake mumbled as Coal got up from the seat that they shared. "I had a little help." She finished smiling up at the boy who returned it with a smile of his own.

"Sup losers!" Sun announced as he walked up to the table with a blue haired boy wearing goggles standing right beside him.

"Trespassing on private property." Coal tutted. "I'm really going to have to arrest you this time Sun."

"Hey Sun!" Ruby called out.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Ice Queen, Flatfoot."

"Hey!" The twins cried in unison. "Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Weiss questioned.

"Because your bossy and act like you come from royalty with the amount that Winter and I spoil you!" Coal laughed as he ran around the table and ruffled his twin's hair.

"Quiet you!" Weiss pouted as she smacked his hand away and reset her appearance quickly.

"I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend." Sun continued trying not to laugh at the child.

"Uh… Aren't libraries for reading?" The boy asked.

"THANK YOU!" Ren agreed rather loudly from over by the window.

"PANCAKES!" Nora exclaimed as she woke up startled by the noise. Sun ignored the two as he turned to his friend.

"Shut up. Don't be a nerd!" The boy made a silencing noise before correcting his friend.

"Intellectual! Okay thank you." Coal hummed at the correction thinking that maybe he could come to get along with the new boy. Technically he was an intellectual also. "I'm Neptune."

"So Neptune…" Weiss addressed the new boy in a tone Coal hadn't heard her use before. "Where are you from?"

"Haven." Neptune said as he started to slowly walk over to the girl. Upon reaching her he spoke in a very low and husky tone as he asked. "And I don't believe I've caught you name… Snow Angel."

*BANG*

Within the blink of an eye, Weiss had stood up and pushed Neptune up against a book case and held him in place with a strong palm resting on his chest. She inwardly cursed at having such a profound reaction to hearing anyone else but her twin call her by that name and she didn't want to leave a bad impression on such a hot guy. Coal on the other hand was thinking slightly differently…

' _Go on Weiss…'_

 _ **Kick his ass**_

 _ **Hungry**_

Weiss did neither of those things as she stood up on her tip toes and breathed seductively into Neptune's ear. "Don't. Ever. Call me Snow Angel." She backed off making sure to breathe one last time over the skin on his neck and turned away, slapping him with her pony tail as she walked away. Her boots clicked against the floor of the library as she swayed her hips for added effect on the boy, who could only gape at the sight of her exit as she disappeared from sight around the corner and out the library.

Coal stared dumbfoundedly at where his twin had just disappeared from sight and started to fumble around his mind looking for an answer for what he had just witnessed, until a sound forced him to snap his gaze toward Neptune… He was starting at the exact same spot with an allured expression.

"What a woman…" Neptune purred.

"THAT'S IT!" Coal yelled as he made to draw his revolver. Unfortunately, for Coal anyway, he was held back by not only Sun, who was now overly concerned for his friend's life, but also Yang, Jaune and Pyrrha. Even with all them trying to hold the boy back he was still proving to be too much for them to handle as he managed to raise his gun closer to his target.

"COAL!" Came the worrying yell of his twin which snapped him out of it and sprung back into his normal stance. Weiss came running up to her twin, panting as she bent down to place her hands on her knees as she took heavy breathes to pump more oxygen around her body. "We have… A problem." She said in-between breathes.

"Damn right we do Baby Sis!" Coal started to scold his twin before she shut him up quickly by cutting him off.

"Escape plan… Whiskey…" She panted again. Coals eyes widened. Surely not… No way would they need to initiate such a plan here at Beacon.

"Come again?" He asked in shock. The tone of his voice caught everyone by surprise as they all looked at him confused. Never had they heard such fear in his voice.

"ESCAPE PLAN WHISKEY!" Weiss yelled as she grabbed him by the collar and told him exactly what he needed to know with her eyes. A tense moment passed between the twins before a high-pitched call came from the halls of the school.

"Yoo-hoo! Wry-Wry!"

 _ **RUN!**_

 _ **Fucking Run!**_

 _Make haste!_

He did. And by hell did he run fast. Before the call had even finished, Weiss had moved over to the window where Ren had been sitting and opened it as wide a she could, about a foot by foot gap appeared in the glass which Coal sprinted at, reaching full speed and dived head first through the open space. He flipped a few times before he landed on his feet in a gymnast's stance and looked back up the three story drop that he had just made, to see Ren holding a plaque with the numbers '8.3' written on. "That's more like it!" Coal huffed as he dashed off in a full-on sprint and out of view.

Weiss closed the window immediate after her twin had dived through it. she snatched Ren's score away and threw it out of sight somewhere around the library, she could have sworn she hit someone as she heard a yelp come from the direction that she threw it in. she regained her composure just as from around the corner, stepped out a girl the same age as herself.

Instantly jaws dropped at the sight of the new female.

Standing in an elegant light pink silk summer dress that stopped just before her knees and showed off just the right amount of cleavage to still be modest yet capture almost every eye present, was the single most beautiful girl that any one of them had laid their eyes on. Her hourglass figure confidently strode towards the group of bewildered teens. her shiny, wavy purple hair followed behind her as her frost white heels clicked against the floor until they stopped just in front of Weiss who had somehow managed to make it back to her seat unnoticed. The new female locked her bright yellow eyes with the Schnee's and spoke in formal yet high spirited high pitched voice.

"Oh, Weiss darling, have you seen my Wrythe anywhere?" the girl asked tilting her head to the side. From just out of view, Pyrrha and Nora placed a hand under their respective partner's chins and reattached their jaws.

"Unfortunately, Orchid." Weiss sighed disappointedly. "I haven't seen him at all today, perhaps he is somewhere training or on a mission. As a huntsman, he is supposed to keep radio silence while on missions as to not cause any unwanted issues." Blake blinked at Weiss as she had to do a double take at what she had just witnessed. Weiss deserved an award for that performance. The girl she had lied to believed her whole story.

"Aw…" She sighed looking slightly hurt at the fact that she couldn't see the boy before she quickly grew back am exquisite smile. She hugged herself around her midsection which caused her already busty chest to appear even bigger as she leaned over slightly to converse further with Weiss. "Knowing that you are here will make things easier. He will be back eventually so I shall just grow accustom to this environment and await his return with you darling."

Out the corner of her eye Weiss could see that Sun and Neptune placed a hand under each other's jaws and reset them in their place. She huffed slightly at being completely overshadowed from the girl smiling at her but kept her composure as she spoke once more.

"Once more Orchid I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure when my brother will be returning…"

"That shall not matter." Orchid waved off as she took up a seat next to Weiss. "I will be here for a while regardless so I may as well get acquainted with your friends while I wait. Albeit if it is only for a short time."

"Pardon any rudeness…" Blake said with an emotionless tone as she reached across and reset her partners dropped jaw. "But who are you?"

"Oh, I do apologise!" The girl gasped. "I am Valentina Orchid Octavian." She announced as she stood up and did a quick twirl and curtsied to the teens, once more dropping jaws. She smiled at the group and tilted her head once more and finished her introduction.

"I am Coal Schnee's fiancée." Orchid giggled.


	22. Chapter 22

The Schnee Black Sheep

Chapter 22: Bride to be.

"I am Coal Schnee's fiancée."

"WHAT?" Everyone but Weiss yelled in complete shock. Blake was unable to control herself as an unknown horrible feeling arose in the bottom of her stomach, a feeling which prompted her to ask the beauty.

"You and he…" she began in a timid voice. "Are dating?" Orchid giggled once more as she looked out the window with a longing gaze.

"Well not yet." She sighed, placing a hand over her heart as she turned to the hidden Faunus. "But that is all about to change. Once he comes back home with me and we get married, things will be perfect!" Instantly heads turned towards Weiss, looking for an explanation of not only who exactly the girl was, but if that her twin was actually engaged to such a girl.

Sighing rather uncontrollably, Weiss introduced the new girl to the rest of her friends properly. "Everyone this is Orchid, and yes she _was_ engaged to my brother. Orchid this is my partner Ruby."

"Hi."

"My teammates Blake and Yang."

"Sup." Yang chipped putting on a fake smile. Blake gave no response as she could only stare in Orchid's direction.

"My friends Pyrrha, Ren and Nora… And their team leader Jaune."

"Hello." Pyrrha announced giving a slow wave using her other hand to once again reattach her partners jaw as he started to splutter nonsense, she also made a mental note to no hold back the next time they trained together seeing as how her partner had seemed to have forgotten she existed for a brief second. Nora was too busy dragging Ren away from the beautiful girl as the quiet boy had become even more silent, unable to remove his eyes from the girl. Something Nora was not pleased about.

"And this is Sun and Neptune."

"Hey, how you doing?" Neptune asked in a husky tone as he smiled and cast the beauty a wink.

"Just can't help yourself, can you?" Sun sighed as he grabbed his friend by the collar and dragged him away. "Dude she's engaged and you can't even restrain yourself."

"I'm just being polite." Neptune argued as he continued to get pulled further away from the goddess. "I don't want her to think I'm rude."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Orchid said politely as the once more curtsied to the group, or what was left of it anyway. "I take it that you also know my Wrythe seeing as you know his sister."

"Um… Wrythe?" Blake asked raising an eyebrow and folding her arms across her chest showing an attitude towards Orchid. Said girl smiled back to Blake in earnest as she was unfazed by the obviousness of not being liked very much.

"Yes, his full name is Wrythe Coal Schnee," She informed. "Did he not tell you his real name?" She asked with a slight amount of sarcasm hidden under her tone. A tone which only angered the Faunus further.

"Yes, he did in fact tell me his real name." Blake smirked having one up on the new girl. "His real name is Coal Valiant."

"I'm sorry to inform you… Kate was it?" Orchid grinned. "But that is not his…"

"Actually Orchid." Weiss interrupted taking Blake's side. "That is his real name now. He changed it not too long ago after he was exiled from our family."

"WHAT?" Orchid shrieked. "Since when?"

"Since a couple of weeks ago actually." Blake smiled in victory as she couldn't help but continue. "I'm sorry to inform you… Whatever your name was, but the person who you thought was here apparently doesn't even exist anymore, so you might as well just go home." After her little victorious attitude and tone, Blake glanced around the rest of her friend who were just simply giving her a weird look. "What?" Yang just shook her head at her partner in utter disappointment.

"Seriously just go and screw him already." She deadpanned in a very Blake like manner.

"Yang there is nothing between us!" Blake yelled furiously at her partner for the millionth time today. Orchid glared at the Faunus.

"What do you mean, go and screw him already?" She asked in an evil tone. "You dare steal my Wry-Wry from me!" Yang couldn't contain herself as she burst out laughing at the name. the rest of the teens also struggled to keep their composure as before long everyone, Weiss included, joined Yang in a fit of laughter.

"What a stupid name!" Ruby managed to force out between laughs as she fell down to the floor clutching her stomach kicking her legs in the air. Yang stopped laughing to take a quick glance at her younger sister, seeing as though that little remark had been the first time she acknowledged his existence since he had died and come back. Jaune was also laughing just as hard as the scythe wielder as he was doubled over slamming a hand on the table repeatedly.

"I'm am so going to use that against him." Jaune announced to no one in particular as he got a new remark to use against his best friend.

"Wait a minute here!" Blake accused loudly. "Will someone just tell me what the hell is going on here!" It was Orchid who answered her in a rather accusing tone.

"I am here to take my Wrythe back home with me so that we can finally be married. His father has already made all the necessary arrangements for us to be married within the month and once we are happily wed, we are going to move to my family's estate within Mistral where we will give birth to a suitable heir to my family's company."

"Well fuck that noise!" Eyes instantly locked onto Weiss who covered her mouth in shock of her own words. "Damn it Coal, you're a bad influence." She whispered to herself. Yang pulled Blake to one side and engaged the Faunus in a discreet conversation of her own while Orchid made the rounds of introducing herself to each individual personally.

"So Blake, what are you going to do now?" Yang asked with a teasing grin. Blake simply rolled her eyes in return as she stated.

"Absolutely nothing. There isn't anything between me and Coal so why would I need to do anything?"

"Because you know for a fact that you really want to have his babies."

"YANG! SHUT! UP!" Blake whispered harshly through gritted teeth.

"Blake look me in the eyes and tell me you're not bothered by this at all." Blake turned to face Yang head on and looked right into the blond's lilac eyes.

"I, Blake Belladonna, do not care in the slightest that he, Coal Valiant, is engaged to that girl, whatever her name was."

"I never said anything about that." Yang smirked in victory. "I was referring to the fact about Coal needing to leave."

"Huh…"

"That's what she said right." Yang clarified for the Faunus. "That Coal will be getting married at the end of the month and then they will be moving away. Are you sure that you're okay with that?"

"I…" Blake started to say before cutting herself off. she took a few moments to think about her next words. Once more she looked Yang dead in the eyes and with the most emotionless face and tone she could muster, Blake answered. "I don't care what he does. It's not like we have anything between us." With that, Blake walked away and out the library, leaving a very excited blond standing by herself who was quickly joined by Weiss.

"Well, what did she say?" Weiss asked knowing full well what Yang would have been asking about.

"Her left ear twitches when she lies." Yang smirked. "And when she is frustrated, she storms out in a huff. You tell me what that means."

"Blake is pissed…" Weiss sighed.

"And who do you think she is pissed at?" Yang smirked knowingly.

"Coal…" Weiss sighed once more before Orchid bounced up to her.

"So, Weiss dear. When will my Wrythe be returning?" She asked in a giddy tone.

"I've already told you Orchid I don't know." Weiss repeated herself as she rubbed her eyes in frustration. She hated dealing with the overly happy girl but had gotten used to it over the years. Even before her twin's engagement to the beauty she had to run interference between to two at her brother's request. It was one of the only things that he had ever asked of her… Well he actually begged at first but Weiss was already planning on ways of separating the two herself, she was rather thankful when her twin was on board for actively avoiding Orchid by any means necessary. "Just go wait for him in his room or whatever."

* * *

It was a long tedious walk to Coal room. Orchid asked question after question about the boy's current mission as to which Weiss continuously had to bluff her way out of, how he was doing currently and as to whether or not he had talked about her at all. Needless to say, it did not go down well with the heiress when she had found out that no one had any idea of who she was or that neither of the twin's friends had any knowledge of her engagement to Coal. Weiss opened the door to her twin's room and showed the purple haired girl inside.

"Okay Orchid, here you are." Weiss said as she gestured around the room. "Coal's bedroom, otherwise known as team VOID's hangout."

"Oh, this is just splendid!" Orchid clapped excitedly. "It will be just like it is our first apartment!"

"Yeah…" Weiss agreed awkwardly. "Now just wait here okay, I'll be in the next room down with my team if you need anything. I think Coal keeps a decent stock of snacks around here somewhere if you get hungry… Though a good ninety percent of that is alcohol."

"That will be fine." Orchid waved off. "I will simply call room service if I require anything to eat."

"There is no room service here." Weiss deadpanned.

"WHAT!" Came a deafening scream from an overly pampered heiress. "You expect me to live like a savage!"

"Not exactly…" Weiss said. "I just expect you to wait until Coal returns from his mission, where ever he may be, who knows how long that could take. If you prefer, I could ask him to call you when he returns so that you don't have to live in such low standards." Weiss offered sarcastically. Orchid just sighed in defeat.

"Very well. I suppose I could start rearranging this place to suit our needs."

"What needs?" Weiss asked regretting doing so, she could have just left the conversation there but out of concern for her twin, she needed to know exactly what else the girl was here for.

"Well this place is hardly baby proof, is it?" Orchid stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay, I'm done." Weiss stated as she turned quickly on her heel and marched swiftly to her own room, slamming the door behind her and getting weird looks from the rest of her team. "I did not need that mental image…"

"What is it with you and this mental image thing?" Yang asked folding her arms behind her head.

"Imagine a much smaller and more hyperactive version of Coal." Weiss explained getting a shrug from the blond in return.

"I don't really see much of a problem there."

"Yang how many explosions does he cause on a regular basis now?" Yang took a moment to think about what the Schnee was implying before her eyes widened in terror. Weiss needed no more prompting to know that Yang had just clicked on to the same worrying thought. "Exactly, a mini Coal would literally be a house on fire… Or worse, well actually most indefinitely worse." Yang hummed in agreement before casting a wink to the Faunus who sat on her bed in complete silence reading, though she had remained on the same page for far too long to maintain cover.

"Blake, thoughts?" Yang questioned her partner.

"On what?" Blake asked pretending she heard nothing of what had just been mentioned. Yang smirked knowingly at her partner as she continued to play her favourite game of teasing the Faunus until she snaps.

"Don't pretend like you didn't hear anything Blake." Yang accused grinning. "Even when you're not paying attention those ears hear everything!"

"HA! Like fuck they do!" Came a rather childish laughing voice from underneath Blake's bed.

"COAL WHY ARE YOU UNDER MY BED!" Blake screamed as she reached under her bed and pulled out the boy by the ear.

"Ow, ow. I thought it was Weiss' bed, I needed a place to hide and it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"So, you just decide by yourself that it would be okay to break into our room and hide under Blake's bed?" Yang asked folding her arms. Normally she would make a comment on something so easy, but right this second she was far more concerned with how he actually entered their locked room. "How did you even get in here?"

"Lock picking is a relatively easy skill to pick up and I thought it would being a new meaning to the whole monster under the bed thing... Ow, Blake can you please let go?"

"Not until you explain what is going on." She growled at him. Coal continued to yelp as Blake kept pulling in his ear.

"What is it with you females and inflicting pain?" He cried.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Blake asked irritably as she released the soldier from her grasp and placed both hands on her hips glaring at the boy.

"Well Weiss loves slapping me upside the head, granted sometimes I do actually deserve it, Yang literally is a battering ram with crappy jokes, and you continuously find ways of pinning me down and slapping me. Heck, Ruby is the only one who has actually killed me before."

…

"What too soon?" Coal asked as the room went silent.

"Is there a right time to actually joke about that?" Yang asked glaring at the boy as Ruby did her best to make like a turtle and retreat back into her cloak. Coal shrugged it off quickly.

"Shit happens, just got to live with our choices." He stated aiming his words directly at Ruby. Blake rose swiftly to her feet and grabbed him by the arm and pulled them out into the hallway.

"We need to talk." She demanded as she slammed the door separating them from the rest of her team. As soon as the two were alone, she rounded on the boy with a very angry look on her face. Something that Coal instantly picked up on as the fire in her amber eyes made him concerned about his current standing with the Faunus… Not that there was much behind their friendship of course. "What the hell was that?" Blake asked furiously prodding his chest daring him to lie to her.

"Come on Blake." Coal chuckled as he stuck his hands up in surrender. "It was just a little joke."

"A bad one… Can't you see that she is actually really ashamed about that?"

"Well duh!"

"Then why are you being such an asshole about it!"

"How else am I supposed to be?" Coal asked rather sternly showing his battle-hardened soldier persona. "Killing is exactly what it is, taking the life of another. If she wants to feel sorry for herself by letting the fact that I was dead for a minute due to an accident that was basically my fault to begin with bring her down, then I'm just gonna go with it and let her do what she needs to do to feel better."

"Exactly!" Blake yelled. "You know what it's like to kill so you should be able to help her through that feeling. Maybe if you just took a softer approach about it then maybe you wouldn't be such an asshole!"

"I'm trying to help her here."

"By reminding her of the one thing she is ashamed of most?"

"What else am I supposed to do Blake? She's the one who is avoiding me, I can't help her if she is constantly trying to tell herself that she killed me, despite the obviousness that I'm right here! She is far too young and innocent for this life if she breaks down over a little accident, which by the way I don't really care about."

"So according to you she shouldn't be here!" Blake accused loudly showing her frustration by getting right up in his face.

"That's not what I'm saying Blake and you know it." Coal argued back glaring back at her. "She has potential, great potential and will probably go on to do something great but right now, she has absolutely no idea about what the world really is."

"AND YOU DO!" Blake yelled furiously.

"We both do." Coal stated as he pushed passed the Faunus and headed for his room in quiet anger. He stopped in front of the door and turned to face the Faunus once more with a sorrowful expression. "We don't always have the luxury of niceties Blake… I know it seems harsh and horrible, but look at where we are. Knowing what you know now, can you honestly say that you are stronger or weaker because of your experiences and trials? Because of him?"

"Why are you bringing him up?" Blake growled rather harshly. Coal softened his expression as he lowered his own tone.

"Because he is what you're really running from isn't it?"

"You don't know me."

"No Blake, I think I do." Coal said as he walked back over to the Faunus and got back up in her face. "You pretend not to care about anything when you really care more than anyone else, you try and hide in your books but you're secretly planning something which you hide from the rest of us and more than anything else, you don't let anyone in!" Coal stated before realising that he had not just described the Faunus, but also himself.

"I let you in!" Blake screeched prodding him in the chest rather forcefully. "You of all people and why did I even bother when you can't even tell me the truth!"

"What!" Coal argued throwing his hands in the air in frustration thinking that the Faunus had somehow caught onto the time bomb on his back. "When did I ever lie to you?"

"You told me you've never dated!"

"Technically I wasn't lying." Coal chuckled thinking he had dodged a bullet, that was the least thing he had expected the Faunus to question him about.

"YOU'RE ENGAGED!" She screeched once more prodding him in the chest harder. "Explain that!"

"It's all arranged Blake. It was announced on my fifteenth birthday and I've been avoiding the actual marriage since then. I got forced into a fight with the girl that night and I lost… I had no idea that her father and mine had already arranged for us to be married before the fight even took place but a second after I, _literally,_ got my ass whipped they made the announcement officially. Meaning that since that point on, Coal Schnee was engaged to that bitch. I've never been on a real date with anyone."

"And she means nothing to you?"

"Well she obviously means something seeing as how I've made forty-seven and a half different escape plans for when she shows up." Coal shrugged. "Not that anything I feel towards her is actually positive."

"Forty-seven and a half?" Blake asked folding her arms disbelievingly before shaking her head and getting back on track. "Doesn't matter… So, you don't care about her at all?"

"Why are you so bothered by this?"

"Coal!"

"Fine, fine… I harbour no feelings towards that damn baby crazy, psycho, mirror obsessed, dominatrix." Coal informed as he turned away and placed his hand on his door handle. "Seriously Blake, what got you so worked up?" Blake averted her gaze from the boy as she pondered exactly why she was acting the way she was. Why did the appearance of such a beautiful girl, one who outright caused latterly every male within range to start drooling uncontrollably, bother her so much? She had been treated as a minority her whole life so being compared to her wasn't what was bothering the Faunus, she was actually rather proud of her own appearance though she didn't treat it as her top priority. Surely it wasn't the fact that the girl had a history with Coal… No that definitely wasn't the case, there was nothing between the human and the Faunus, right? They were completely different species so there couldn't be anything between them anyway.

"WRY-WRY!"

Coal immediately slammed the door and tried to run away in a full-on sprint away from his third biggest fear, his fiancée. Orchid kicked his door down and reached under the skirt of her summer dress and pulled out a long, leather whip that was attached to her thigh and took aim towards Coal, snagging his ankles and tripping him up before he could even make it a few feet.

"Wry-Wry!" She announced again rather excitedly. "It's been so long since we have seen one another." She cheered happily as she started pulling on the whip bringing the tangled-up boy closer inch by inch.

"Not long enough…" Coal huffed as he flicked his wrist and crafted a sword which he pierced into the ground in front of him to keep him in place. Blake could only watch in utter amazement at how the known executioner was acting. Never had she thought that someone could look so desperate to escape.

"This is just spectacular!" Orchid continued to cheer as she started to pull even harder on the whip. "Now that you're here we can finally return home and be married! Once that little ceremony is out the way we can go on our honeymoon and consummate our love for one another!"

"FUCK ME!" Coal yelled in absolute terror, he was not looking forward to the future that his former fiancée had in store for him.

"Exactly!" Orchid smiled as she managed to pull the downed boy away from the ice estoc due to his sudden panic. "How else am I going to bear you children?"

"Damn it Orchid we aren't engaged anymore! Give up on this baby thing already!" Coal protested as he grabbed hold of the door frame in an attempt to stay far away from the girl as possible. "Blake, I could use a hand here!" He begged as the Faunus remained silent just watching the scene take place emotionlessly. After a few moments, she turned her nose up and away from the boy and swiftly walked back into her room slamming the door behind her as if to state her opinions on the matter. _'Deal with it on your own.'_ Coal could only curse the Faunus every name under the sun for the betrayal as he was pulled into his room by force, his door closing and locking as if to emphasise just how trapped he was. There was no escape from a bride to be, when she wanted something, Orchid would be damn sure that she got it. Whatever it took.

* * *

Blake slammed the door upon re-entering her room, leaving the human to fend for himself and escape from his current situation. She couldn't understand the feeling of betrayal that welled within her but she did know the source of it. For a reason, she wouldn't explain she was angry at Coal, angry at how he was still keeping things from her despite her own complete honesty with him. Her frustration was something her teammates noticed. Specifically, Weiss and Yang.

"You seem… Irritated." Weiss accused as kindly as she could in order to not send the Faunus past her limits.

"Do you want know a good way to relive stress?" Yang asked smirking at the Faunus. Weiss could only face palm at knowing exactly what Yang was referring to… Blake however, blew a fuse...

"YANG FOR THE LAST FREAKING TIME!"

"Wow Blake." Yang motioned to clarify having not expected such a massive outburst from her partner. "I was going to say a hot bath and scented candles but now I'm thinking we may need something better…" Weiss also moved in to assist the blond before she got her head ripped off.

"What's with you Blake?" Weiss asked as calmly as she could. "Lately you've been way moodier, even more so than your normal Blakey self."

"That's a given…" Yang interjected adding in her own remarks.

"Which I get… Moody is your thing." Weiss said using air quotes. "But you're even taking it out on Coal now, which is definitely not normal."

"Yeah." Yang interjected again. "Normally you two are all over each other."

"Yang quiet." Weiss ushered before the Faunus snapped again.

"Did you two have another argument or something?" Yang continued. Blake huffed in annoyance. Yes, they just had an argument and no, it wasn't the first one they had either. Regardless of how much they argued or fought they would always be able to laugh it off in the end, but now it just seemed as though they were stuck in a loop. They would laugh and casually flirt together, argue and fight before ultimately, they made up over a quick fishing and reading session at the pier and go back to being buddies again. needless to say, Blake was getting tired of that routine. She started to wonder if she was the one stuck in the friend zone. Regardless of how she felt towards the human, she would never voice it towards her perverted partner or the boy's own sister… She did not need any more teasing for that matter.

"This has nothing to do with him." Blake half lied.

"Then tell us what's wrong Blake." Weiss prompted. "You did promise after all." Huffing in defeat, Blake began to tell them the only thing she could tell them to ensure them that she wasn't conflicted about her feeling towards the human.

"I just don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

"Are you still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby asked coming back out of her cloak, hoping to enter a conversation that didn't contain any references towards Coal, fearing that she would be haunted by the image of him lying dead in the street by her own hand once more.

"Torchwick, the White Fang… All of it." Blake stated, thankful for her team leaders timing and giving her something to reference. "Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it."

"Ozpin told us not to worry." Yang interrupted. "Between the police and the huntsmen, I'm sure they could handle it."

"Well I'm not." Blake said getting furious, she didn't realise just how much of what she was saying was making sense. Blake figured that all this doubt must have been overshadowed by spending the majority of her free time with a certain human. "They don't know the White Fang like I do!" The rest of her teammates looked between each other before Weiss grew an evil smirk.

"Okay, between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of think your all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells."

"Err... Who?" ruby asked befuddled by the words.

"But let me once again be the voice of reason…" Weiss continued not taking the time to explain. "We're students… We aren't ready to handle this sort of situation."

"Well yeah but…"

"We're. Not. Ready." Weiss clarified a tad more forcefully, Blake was ready to interject but stopped herself when the Schnee girl grinned menacingly, a smile that Blake was starting to hate seeing. "But someone is…"

"You mean Coal, don't you?" Yang asked folding her arms behind her head as Ruby once more became a turtle.

"Oh no!" Blake interjected taking the conversation back from Weiss. "He is not getting involved with this!"

"And why not?" Weiss argued. "He has been chasing after the White Fang for years with the military, destroyed dozens of hideouts, and singlehandedly is probably stronger than all of us combined… No offence."

"Some taken." Yang shrugged slightly irritated, she was still itching to find out exactly how well she faired against him.

"He still isn't getting involved." Blake assured crossing her arms and making a point that she wasn't backing down from her statement.

"Ugh fine." Weiss huffed. Upon the Schnee's agreement to the terms, Ruby perked up out of her cloak.

"Okay… All in favour of becoming the youngest huntresses to singlehandedly bring down a corrupt organisation conspiring against the kingdom of Vale, say aye."

"Yes!" Yang cheered pumping a fist before pointing to Blake. "You should be that feisty with him!" Blake just gave a deadpan stare back at her partner and shook her head in utter disbelief. Why did she end up with such a perverted partner?

"I suppose it could be fun." Weiss shrugged trying to not pay too much attention to Yang and her comments. She regretted agreeing to the blond's proposal of working together.

"None of you said aye…" Ruby pouted.

"Alright then." Blake smiled happily knowing that her team was behind her all the way. "We're in this together."

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby cheered smirking like a child before her eyes widened in realisation. "I my board game in the library…"

"We're doomed…" Weiss facepalmed as Ruby disappeared in a burst of rose petals out the door. "Where is Coal anyway? I figured he would have followed you back in."

"He's preoccupied." Blake shrugged as she flopped down on her bed and picked up a book.

"Please tell me Orchid didn't get him…"

* * *

Fear does many strange things to people… Some run away screaming, others lash out in a mindset of kill or be killed, and others basically piss themselves. Right now, Coal was unable to do any of those things. Being tied down to a chair wrapped up in his fiancée's whip with his weapons removed and no means of escape while being straddled by said fiancée who was also grinding her hips against his leaving him with no means of escape… Let's just say that his inner demons were very conflicted at this point.

"So…" Orchid slurred quietly into his ear as she gently bit down onto his earlobe. Needless to say, the purple haired girl had been longing for this reunion. "We are finally alone."

"Yep." Coal stated emotionlessly as he kept his gaze facing straight passed the girl and focused on a particular scratch along the wall that had been made when he first moved into the room.

"I missed you Wry-Wry." Orchid whispered as she wrapped her arms around the bound boy and buried her head into his neck. "So, so much."

"Yep."

"Did you miss me?" Orchid asked with hopeful eyes as she waited for the boy to answer.

"Nope."

"You don't need to keep lying to yourself. We both know you really can't resist me." She teased as she climbed off the boy, much to his relief, and strode over to the bathroom. "Just give me a sec to get changed okay…" She giggled closing the door and locking herself away from her fiancé to get changed in privacy, not that she was intending on keeping much privacy between them for much longer…

"Fuck this!" Coal growled to himself as he started to struggled against his bindings, forcing the chair to seesaw from side to side as he fought against the restraints to no avail. "Cobalt get us out of here!"

 _ **She took my gun! What the fuck can I do?**_

"SHIT… Wrythe, I know we don't exactly get along and that it's been a few years since I've asked for a favour, but seriously isn't there anything you can do?" Coal pleaded to the deepest part of his fractured soul, thankfully a slow and well-spoken voice from inside his soul spoke up.

 _Forgive me master Coal. But a gentleman cannot say no to a lady._

 _ **Bullshit! You just want to get laid!**_

 _That is not entirely incorrect, there is a first time for everything… Even if I wanted to free us from this, terrifying situation, I would require our gauntlet to proceed. I cannot forge any estocs without it._

"This is getting out of hand…" Coal sighed as he continued to struggle against the bindings. This wasn't the first time that he had been trapped in the girls whip, but this time was different, he could not get free of the thing. Despite all his strength he just could not break free of the weapon. "Fuck, what is this thing made out off?"

 _ **I could break it**_

"Crimson if you break these bindings you can have all the exercise you want inside the emerald forest for the whole night." Coal offered, hoping that his animal wasn't lying just so that he could get some exercise.

 _Are we really going to give control over to that monstrosity?_

 _ **Fuck yeah!**_

"Sorry Wrythe but I'm with Cobalt on this one." Coal sighed seeing no alternative.

 _A gentleman should never leave a lady unaccompanied._

 _ **A gentleman would make a like a man and leg it! Tail between his legs and all! You must remember how we ended up engaged to begin with?**_

 _Listen here you rapscallion. That fair lady has devoted her life to us, are we really going to be completely and utterly disrespectful and turn her down without even a polite 'no'?_

"So, your saying that you'd rather succumb to that dominatrix and her mirrors, when this is clearly going to be the single biggest 'NOPE' moment of our lives?" Coal asked in doubt.

…

 _Your logic is sound, we should make a hasty and tactical retreat. We should preserve the last of our innocence for the right time after all._

"Ugh, you are by far the worst part of me..." Coal smirked closing his eyes. Though he did agree with the gentleman, he didn't really plan on losing his remaining innocence anytime soon. He had more pressing matters to focus on currently seeing as how by releasing the animal, he would need to activate his semblance… and the dust that plagued him. "Crimson, are you fully awake yet?" The boy asked before his eyes shot open to reveal e a set of glowing red ones. He started snarling and growling to himself.

" **Awake and hungry."**

(less than two minutes later.)

"Are you ready for your punish… Damn it." Orchid huffed as she stepped out of the bathroom having gotten changed into a rather skimpy version of the Beacon uniform and carrying another whip and a tube of whipped cream. She had expected to find her fiancé waiting right where she left him, but instead she walked into an empty room with her original whip lying on the ground, still fully intact, but the chair that she had restrained Coal to was completely smashed and its pieces scattered around the room. It didn't take her long to also notice that the window was wide open and letting in a rather chilling breeze. It was plainly obvious that her fiancé had once again, slipped through her fingers.

"We really need to work on that confidence issue of yours Wry-Wry…" She huffed as she threw the items to one side and shut the window to keep what was left of the heat in. She could not fathom why her fiancé was so afraid of her, she was only human like him and they were to be married soon. She had been told that the boy's father would be calling him to let him know that she was coming to take him away with her and that should have been that.

She huffed once more as she crashed down onto the boy's bed and wrapped herself in the sheets, taking in his scent. "What a waste… the first time we see each other in months, the first time we actually can be alone and he runs away. Are you really that ashamed of your body that you won't even take your wife-to-be's first time?" She questioned the empty room hoping to find some sort of answer. "And I'm ovulating as well…" She huffed again as she rolled over and forced herself to calm down otherwise she would lose more sleep over her fiancé.


	23. Chapter 23

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

Sorry for the late upload, was kind of a wee bit drunk last night trying to keep up with my mother… Damn that lass can drink! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, mams, mums, mothers, mas and whatever else you call them. Have one on me!

By the way heres a key for Coal and his inner demons:

"Coal"

"Wrythe"

" **Cobalt"**

" **Crimson"**

* * *

Chapter 23:

(three days later)

"WRY-WRY! WRY-WRY!"

Weiss groaned at the constant shrieking from her twin's ex fiancée. Ever since she had arrived, all Orchid had done was cry out at the object of her affection, thinking that he would come out of whatever hole he was hiding in so that they could pick up where they left off. Weiss was thankful that the possessive girl had yet to lay a hand on her brother, though she was slightly miffed at Blake when she found out that she had left him to fend for himself that first night. But seeing as how Orchid was still roaming the halls of Beacon constantly shouting her pet name for him Weiss was sure that she had yet to actually claim him. Since that point, no one had seen or even heard from her twin and saying that Weiss was worried for him was an understatement, even though the fact that even she herself couldn't locate him ensured her that Orchid never would. She was thankful for the small silver lining. But for someone in his condition to be missing for so long… The thought made her worry.

"WRY-WRY!" Came another call from the purple haired girl from somewhere around the school. Orchid may have been a high-class girl, but damn her voice carried a hefty amount of both worry and authority.

"Will she ever stop yelling?" Weiss questioned out loud slamming her head against the desk that she and her team were sat behind in their final lesson of the day. Like the rest of her team, she was already beyond tired seeing as how they had been spending most of their free time over the last few days developing a plan to bring down the White Fang. However, due to her weaker body, she was feeling more than just the lack of sleep. Her legs were starting to cause her trouble again, yet she only collapsed once in the past week. She did well to hide that fact from the rest of her teammates. "This is all your fault Blake." She scoffed, turning her head to the side so that she could glare at the Faunus.

"Me?" Blake questioned accusingly. "What did I do?"

"You left him alone with that bitch."

"Language." Ruby chipped in. She was starting to get used to her partner flaring up at anything involving her twin. Though she had been avoiding Coal since he had come out of hospital a few weeks ago, she was still worried about his whereabouts. She wasn't heartless after all.

"I still don't see how this is my fault." Blake deadpanned emotionlessly.

"Just chill out Weiss." Yang said poking her head around her partner to cast the Schnee a smirk. "You know she's just jealous."

"Jealous of what exactly?" Blake growled in annoyance. She knew by now exactly what her partner was implying, but why was a completely different question.

"The fact that Coal is getting married to someone other than you." Yang smirked at Blake knowingly. She could see the fury arise in Blake's amber eyes before the Faunus' expression changed, or rather, it completely deflated. Blake cast her eyes back down at her notes and without word, continued to work in complete silence. Something that cause Yang to grow concerned… Had she just broken Blake? "Blake I…"

"Yang that's enough." Weiss interjected on behalf of the Faunus who looked as though she hadn't even heard either of them speak across her. The bell rang to signal the end of the day's lessons and Team RWBY all stood up to leave the classroom and head back to their dorm room. Blake was the first to leave as she left at a rather quick pace, leaving Ruby, Weiss and Yang to follow a few steps behind the Faunus when Weiss rounded on Yang. "You're going way too far with this. Instead of bringing them together, I think you're actually pushing them away."

"Well what else are we supposed to do?" Yang questioned. "Neither of them will admit to it so we need to force a confession out of them."

"Your forgetting that Coal hasn't been seen in three days." Weiss argued back. "And besides… I don't know if he could even spare the time for a relationship at this point."

"What do you mean by that?" Yang asked raising an eyebrow. The way the Weiss had said that lead the blond to believe that the Schnee knew more than she was letting on.

"Nothing…" Weiss said quietly. "Just forget I said anything."

Up ahead, Blake was silently questioning herself. After all the teasing she had received, all the comments that had been made about her and the human, why had that one hurt more than the rest? It didn't take her long to figure out why. She remembered the feeling of jealousy she had when she was younger, when she first started crushing on Adam and he would spend his time with other girls. She was ticked at the fact that she hadn't realised it sooner, that it had taken her partner to voice it openly for her to actually accept it. Ever since the stunning, beautiful, drop dead gorgeous purple haired busty goddess had announced that she was his fiancée, that feeling had arose in the pit of her stomach. The simple fact of knowing that it was there pissed her off beyond comparison. Yang had been right… There was something between her and the human.

And now he was gone, he had left to who knows where and she could do nothing to get him back. The first day when he hadn't shown up to class, she had gone down to the pier that evening in hopes of finding him there. Like he promised her that he would be there if she needed to find him. Unfortunately, after waiting for hours for him to show up, he never did and thus returned to her room in a depressed state. She repeated the same thing yesterday evening also, in hopes that he would be there that time, yet once again she returned by herself. In hindsight, the amount of light flirting they did between one another she was surprised when she had finally figured it out that just maybe she did have a slight fondness for the human. She needed time to figure out just what she was feeling, and when Coal returned, how to express whatever it was that she felt… Or burry it. Right now she would prefer to burry any feeling towards anyone at this point.

Blake separated off from her team and entered Coal's room in order to figure out exactly what it was that she felt towards him. Seeing as how he wasn't around at the moment, for better or worse Blake wasn't too sure, being around his things and habitat was as close as she could get. As soon as she entered the room, she was hit with a strong smell of alcohol… That was definitely a mark against the human, she hated alcohol and the pain that came from someone who just returned home after a night out on the piss. Shuddering at that memory of her previous life, she looked around the room for something more uplifting.

Yet nothing immediately came to mind. His room was a mess of papers and for some reason there was a broken chair scattered over the floor… Definitely not the cleanliest of people. She moved over to examine the papers, which she assumed were more of his notes from his late-night study sessions. What she didn't expect to find, were detailed medical records as well as a lot of dust analysis of biological subjects… She could not understand more than a few sentences, but one fact kept cropping up, something in reference to 'rate of survival', and the number '24' written over and over again across most of the scribbles of his notes. She shrugged off the notes for now, seeing as though she couldn't exactly make head or tails of any of the words or equations that filled the pages and once more looked around the room, hoping to find an answer for her inward struggles. Yet once more, nothing. Blake huffed when she realised that just by looking through his stuff she wasn't going to get much of an answer as to why she was feeling what she was, if anything it was just making her more confused. Blake grumbled in annoyance at how she was no closer to figuring out what it was that was actually bothering her. Why was she feeling jealous in the first place anyway? There was nothing between her and the human so why was she trying to find something that wasn't there? She could just leave things as they were and return to her room and read…

Except she didn't.

Blake couldn't shake the concern of wondering where Coal currently was. She was starting to think that perhaps he had returned to the asylum but after voicing that opinion once already that morning, she was quickly reassured by Weiss who insisted that he would be somewhere in Vale if not around the school… In hindsight, Blake started to wonder why the Schnee sounded so sure about that fact. Blake shrugged off that little thought for later, right now she knew that one thing was for certain, no matter what she felt towards Coal, she knew that she hated that ex fiancée of his. There had to be some way of getting rid of her before she blew a fuse at the wrong time and cause a scene that would without a doubt cause more problems than it would be worth. The question was how to get rid of said annoyance without generating a fuss.

First of all, she needed to find out exactly why she was here and how she could wonder the halls of Beacon without question. That meant that Blake needed to talk to the headmaster of the school, only then could she remove the ex-fiancée from the equation. Purely because of the fact that the girl was just an utter annoyance, it had nothing to do with the fact that she would then have Coal all to herself. No, she defiantly wasn't thinking that… Why did that damn human have to leave her so confused. And why did Yang have to worsen that fact, couldn't she just let her have what she already has with the human and let her be?

* * *

(Ozpin's Office)

"Ah Ms. Belladonna." The headmaster said as the elevator doors opened up to his office and said Faunus walked in. "What brings you all the way up here?" He asked as Blake took a seat across from him at his desk without asking or being prompted to sit. By the looks of things, the headmaster must have just been discussing something with someone as there was a second coffee mug on the table as well as a half-finished game of chess.

"Professor…"

"Hold that thought a moment if you please." Ozpin interrupted holding up a finger. "She's not here Mr. Valliant!" He shouted. the door off to the side opened up and in walked the missing human looking very grateful at the fact that it was Blake who appeared instead of one of his worst nightmares.

"Thank fuck it's you kitten." He sighed with relief as he approached the Faunus and headmaster. "I thought she might have come back again…"

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE!" Blake yelled furiously as she got right up in the human's face, their noses almost touching. "Do you have any idea how worried I was… How worried we were when you went missing for a SECOND time!"

"Whoa, Kitten." Coal surrendered putting both hands up in defence. Blake did not back down though as she found the space to bring their faces even closer together and started hurling abuse at the human, letting out a fair amount of the built-up frustration that had arose the moment a certain purple haired girl appeared and made that ridiculous announcement.

Ozpin just chuckled silently at the scene. He had watched the Human and Faunus interact with one another around the school before and found it rather entertaining that how two completely different people, two completely different species could be so comfortable with one another. As the argument progressed, Coal's childish smile grew bigger and bigger as he made sarcastic comments towards the hidden Faunus, who after a short amount of time also showed a small smile. Though she still kept hurling abuse.

"You complete and utter asshole!" Blake finished taking in a rather long breath having completely exhausted her frustration.

"Better?" Coal asked smirking, lowering his surrender.

"Much better actually." Blake smiled back before reaching up to pull on his ear, hard. "But next time, tell me where you wonder off to."

"OW! Why?" Coal yelped in pain. Blake only pulled harder on his ear giving him no verbal answer but one that Coal was learning to translate into, _'Just shut up for once and do as your told.'_ "OW! Okay, okay… Sheesh." Blake smirked in victory and released his ear. Ozpin could not believe what he had just witnessed. The Atlas military's executioner who had no respect for authority, other than his sister Winter of course, a man who could bring fear to many criminals by mere name alone and had gone above and beyond to damage every asset the White Fang possessed… Was whipped. At least with the Faunus it was more metaphorical than Physical.

"As much as I find this display of young love amusing," Ozpin chuckled into his coffee mug. "Do you think we can finish out game Mr. Valiant?" Coal shrugged and stood opposite the headmaster, leaving the seat open for the Faunus, and studied the board before making a move showing no reaction to the headmasters dig at the relationship he held with the Faunus. Coal just assumed that there wasn't anything between them anyway and payed the insult no mind. He didn't have the time to waste on a relationship anyway. He never even noticed the Faunus blushing uncontrollably behind him as she took the open seat. "So Ms. Belladonna, why did you come all the way up here to see me seeing as how you had no idea that he was here." Ozpin asked the Faunus gesturing to the boy opposite him as he made his move. "Check."

"It's about that Orchid girl." Blake stated as Coal made his move with little thought. "Why does she get to walk around the school like she owns the place?"

"Jealous, are we?" Ozpin chuckled moving another chess piece. "That was actually something we have been discussing over the many games we have played over the last few days. Check."

"It is a little to convenient…" Coal announced as he made his move almost uninterested in the game. "Why would the daughter or a military weapons contractor come the Vale merely weeks after there was a White Fang sighting and attempted robbery. If she is here, then her father must be… Something just doesn't sit right with me."

"You know the Octavian family better than I, check, but with regards to that I highly doubt that such a highly-respected family would be involved in black market weapon trades with the White Fang." Ozpin argued. Blake could only remain silent at the old huntsman and teen discussed politics over a game of chess. It was uncanny to see Coal in such a formal state and look so content as he made another move.

"That being said Grey…" Coal said as he leaned across the desk slightly. "My gut is telling me that something is not right here. She knew where I was to begin with and could have chosen anytime to try and claim me again… So why now?"

Ozpin sighed. When he had first been asked by his old friend the general to accept the boy and his sister into his academy, he had been given two pieces of advice for handling the soldier. Don't piss him off and his gut is usually right.

"Let's leave that little question for now… Ms. Belladonna?"

"Hm?"

"I would like your opinion on something that we have been arguing about over the past couple of days."

"Shut up Grey." Coal growled only for the headmaster to silence him by raising a hand.

"You see, Mr. Valiant and I are at a sort of impasse here. A friend of mine is currently at deaths door with very little hope of surviving to see the new year, there is an operation which can cure him however the chances of surviving that process is a very slim chance… Mr Valiant here believes that my friend should use his remaining time on discovering a better cure for his illness."

"Shut. Up." Coal growled again yet the headmaster only ignored him.

"And I believe that he should get the operation while his body is in a fitter condition to better survive the operation, before it becomes too late thus decreasing his overall survival rate." Ozpin finished. "Perhaps you could be the deciding vote on this matter."

Blake hummed for a few moments as she pondered what the headmaster was asking her. She couldn't help recall from the way that Ozpin had worded his question that it related to a lot of what she could understand from the papers that were scattered across Coal's room. She summarized that seeing as how they were openly discussing the topic that Coal had dedicated some of his spare time to research a means of saving whoever's life it was that needed saving. Blake smiled at the fact that she had been once again reminded of just how caring and considerate the human could be if he would be spending countless hours and losing sleep over something like this.

"I think that researching would be more beneficial depending on how long the person has…"

"Only to the end of the year give or take." Ozpin clarified for the Faunus.

"Then they should get the surgery as soon as possible." Blake reasoned ignoring the growls of the human beside her. "With such a short timescale, it would be the most logical thing to do before their time runs out. In my opinion anyway." Blake stated. She didn't notice that just beside her, Coal started to look somewhat conflicted as he mulled over the Faunus' words. Ozpin smirked in victory as he made another move on the chessboard, bringing the boy out of his thoughts.

"Check Mr. Valiant." He said before getting back on track. "Now regarding Ms. Octavian…" Ozpin picked up a paper file that had been sat on the very edge of his desk and handed it over to Coal who just finished moving his own chess piece. Coal studied the document for a few moments before slapping the file down on the desk, revealing an evil smirk.

"When did you even get the time to arrange this?" Coal asked as Ozpin moved his chess piece.

"While you were busy hiding from your fiancée." The headmaster chuckled before reaching under his desk and sliding across a small briefcase. "I also retrieved your weapons from her while I was at it."

"I owe you one Grey!" Coal smirked again as he re-equipped his gear feeling a bit more at ease. "Do you fish much Ozpin?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow at the boy's weird question.

"Many years ago, I once did… Why do you ask?"

"Well I highly recommend it." Coal said as he made his move on the board game. "You see, all you need is a little bit of bait, patience and eventually… The fish will always bite." Coal finished as he clicked his fingers, igniting the paper file and burning it to ashes. "Checkmate."

Ozpin couldn't help but laugh as the human and Faunus took their leave. He only realised it as the boy said his departing words that he had once again, played right into the boy's trap. He started to wonder if the only reason he had arranged the mission briefing that he had just handed the boy was because the boy had played him into doing so… The headmasters mind replayed the conversation that he had with the boys older sister when she had found out that he would be coming to Beacon. She had her own advice to give in regards to her sibling.

' _Don't even bother trying to control him Ozpin, it's not his combat abilities that you should be weary off… it's his mind. That animal may seem like a lazy, arrogant asshole, but he is always up to something.'_

Ozpin knocked over his king with a flick of his fingers, signalling just how defeated he really was. Originally, he challenged the boy to a single game a couple of days ago, when the boy first showed up and made his accusations against the family of his ex-fiancée. However, after Coal suffered a quick loss, the boy challenged the headmaster to another game, and another, and another, eventually until the boy offered a bet on this game. The game at where he just won. The headmaster realised then and there that the boy had spent enough time around therapists and doctors to pick up a few things on how to get inside a person's head. To warp their mind into doing his bidding without ever realising it. And Ozpin had just been played by that very boy.

"Well done James…" He laughed into his coffee mug. "You've made one hell of a monster." He was not looking forward to paying the debt that he now owed the boy.

* * *

Blake walked along side Coal as he made for his room in a hurried manner.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"Ozpin just gave me a mission." Coal stated bursting into his room and straight up to his wardrobe, he was thankful that Orchid wasn't around. "I'm leaving in the next hour so I better get prepared now."

"Who is going with y… What are you doing?" Blake questioned as the boys started to strip out of his clothes. She turned around quickly to give the boys some privacy a heavy blush forming at her cheeks.

"You've already seen me naked Blake, so what else is there to see?" Coal stated in a shrug as he pulled up a clean pair of jet black combat pants where were more formfitting that his previous pair. "Besides you're not the first woman I've had to strip in front of."

"I don't care what you and that fiancée of yours get up to!" Blake angrily shot back still not daring to look at the human, more for her own decency than his as she was once again regretting how much smut she read.

"I meant from when I was in the military!" Coal proclaimed as he shot the Faunus a death glare. "Our squad wasn't just a bunch of men on steroids you know, and we didn't exactly have the best sleeping conditions on longer missions."

"I still don't care." Blake muttered.

"Besides, you're coming too so go get changed into something stealthy."

"Why?"

"Because we are going to pull a heist!"

* * *

(2 years ago)

"Why do I have to fight her!" A fifteen-year-old Coal Schnee argued as he pointed a finger towards a short yet busty purple haired girl in a tight formfitting ball gown. "I shouldn't have to fight anyone, it's my birthday for fuck sakes."

"Wrythe!" Jacques Schnee, the boy's father bellowed. "Enough of this indecency, you will fight for the enjoyment of our guests."

"Fuck that!"

"I would." Orchid purred as she eyed up the boy's features. Needless to say, that action slightly creeped him out. He did his best to ignore the girl and glare back at his father.

"And my name is Coal! how many times do I have to remind you?"

"Regardless you are still fighting." His father said sternly giving the boy no room for argument.

"Go suck my big…"

"WRYTHE!"

"Fine I'll fight." Coal huffed turning away from his father and headed towards a makeshift arena that had been purposely built for tonight's display of child on child violence. Rich people and their pastimes… "But for the record, I was going to say dick." He smirked at himself as he took up his position on one side of the arena.

Coal rolled his shoulders and stretched the rest of his body, annoyed by the lack of mobility that the bespoke suit that had been tailored specifically this night gave him. He never liked suits, he much preferred his smile shirt, coat and pants that he would normally wear on a daily basis. Many times had his father scorned him for wearing such clothing, only to provide an even larger excuse for the boy to keep wearing them. Coal loved pissing his father off, it may as well have been his favourite sport. Finally tiring of the suit, he ripped off the jacket and shirt in one tug and sighed in relief at the cool air that hit his body. Thankfully he had chosen to wear a white vest underneath all his clothing which was now hiding most of his scars.

"Ready when you are." Coal announced as he flicked his wrist, crafting a single estoc formed of pure white ice and drawing his silver revolver in his left hand. Orchid eyed the sight of his form taking in his muscles and body structure with a lustful eye. She had known the boy since they were only small children and now that she was older and understood the human body more… She was curious. Very curious. Orchid reached under the skirt of her gown and pulled out two identical whips and cracked them against the ground indicating that she was ready to fight also. A countdown sounded over the speakers around the small arena and its stands as the male and female stared each other down working on their own strategies against one another.

3…

2…

19…

23…

69…

"WRYTHE!" Jacques Schnee bellowed once more. Of course his son had hacked the arenas systems when it was installed, the brat could never do as he was told and sit still. Coal started laughing at his own prank against his father, knowing full well that he would be punished later, but he didn't care, he just loved aggravating the old man until he was red in the face… And keep on going. Coal sheathed his gun and pulled out his scroll and tapped a few buttons and dropped into a fencing stance. Leaving his revolver at his left hip.

3…

2…

1…

BEGIN!

Coal made to strike first and gain the upper hand against the girl. Orchid had already witnessed the boy training many times before hand and had already planned the perfect strategy to use against him. She knew full well that he was the faster between them both but she had a far deadlier weapon than speed to utilize against the soldier.

Orchid raised both hands and activated her semblance instantly when the signal to begin sounded. A solid mirror formed between her and the Schnee as he zipped straight into the mirror and was reflected back out the way that he came. Coming to a halt after literally being turned around, Coal looked back over his shoulder and reset his stance utterly confused by what just happened. One minute he was looking directly at the girl, the next he was facing the wrong direction after something manifested in front of him.

Coal raised his left hand and crafted a second estoc for his off hand and charged once more, slower this time so that he could see exactly what the girl was doing in order to formulate a strategy on how to beat it. once more, as predicted, he ended up facing the complete wrong way as his attack was reflected away from the Octavian Heiress.

"What the fuck?" Coal asked no one in particular as he turned around once more to face the girl. Instead he came face to face with… Himself. Standing in the very place where he had been turned around was a carbon copy of himself with glowing yellow eyes. Holding the every same estocs that he was currently holding.

"Oh, you like this little trick." Orchid asked with a giddy tone. "Wry-Wry, meet the reflection of your soul… Wry-Wry." Coal stared down the clone of himself in scepticism. This was his reflection? Defiantly not, it couldn't be... The thing stood with an air about him that spoke of a high class and formal attitude. Something that Coal purposely buried deep within himself years ago.

"Ugly fucker isn't he." Coal laughed at himself as he charged at the reflection thrusting both blades forward. His duel strike was blocked expertly by his reflection who then started to engaged the original with strikes of his own, locking the two in a deadly battle of pure elegant swordsmanship.

Each version of Coal returned strike for strike, block for block and even dodged attacks in the same fashion. They may have only fought for less than a minute but during that short exchange, Coal understood exactly what the Octavian girl was saying. That he was indeed fighting himself. The reflection knew every move he was about to make just like Coal knew how the reflection would move. There was no opening that didn't have a trap lying in wait. Coal jumped back, his reflection mirroring the action, separating the two apart.

"How quaint." The reflection spoke causing not only Coal, but also Orchid to gasp in shock. "You still lack discipline."

Orchid looked at the reflection that she had summoned in pure confusion, never before had her reflections ever spoken before. She was utterly astounded when Coal heaved a heavy sigh and uttered one name…

"Wrythe…" Coal huffed. He threw the sword in his left hand towards the girl in force. The blade travelled straight and true towards its target however was quickly intercepted by the reflection, Wrythe. Coal took the single opportunity when his reflection was distracted to draw his revolver and fire twice at the reflections head. Executing it. The reflection shattered into little pieces as Coal burst through its remains and made another attempt at hitting the Octavian girl who had barely moved at all since the start of the fight. Orchid had anticipated the move and had already moved to one side, stepping out the way of his trust and cracked one of her whips, tangling his sword arm in the material and then embedding said whip into the floor of the arena. she then pressed a button on the embedded whips handle, sending a jolt of electricity through the soldier who cried out in pain for a moment before breaking out of the whip by merely pulling on the tensioned material. Ending the pain which it caused him. Truth be told he was used to far higher voltages.

Orchid cracked her second whip, ensnaring the boy's torso and pulled as hard as she physically could, sending the soldier flying past her and rolling on the ground. Coal quickly climbed back to his feet and ripped himself out of the bindings before Orchid could send more amps through his muscles. Completely defenceless. Orchid started to back up as Coal slowly crept up to her with a victorious smirk over his face. She swore then that with her family's money and technical knowledge of advanced weaponry that she would find and make a weapon that not even he could break free from, that she would be able to tie him down as she did what she pleased, regardless of whether or not they were sparing against one another, and also… That he would be hers.

"They never do that you know." Orchid announced as she continued to back away from the boy. "They never talk." Coal didn't seem to care as his eyes flickered blue, raising the gun in line with the girl's head and fired. Orchid managed to create one more mirror which reflected the shot back towards the boy who had completely overlooked that possibility and suffered an explosive round to the chest, sending him flying back into a second mirror which in turn sent him crashing to the ground in pain from both the explosion and the battering from the floor. Coal groaned as he made to stand up, only to be stopped halfway as he felt the barrel of a revolver stick into the back of his skull. Along with the gun, came a hollow, deadly tone. A voice which Coal had never heard prior to that moment.

" **You are weak."**

Coal's eyes widened in fear at the voice as the gun which threatened his life moved over his back and centralized over his hidden mark.

*BANG*

Coal erupted out of the burst of flames, his body lightly scorched from the fires intensity yet his aura had done its job. While he would be subjected to a painful evening in bed while he recovered, it was nothing compared to what came next…

"Wrythe has lost the battle due to lack of aura." Jacques Schnee announced to his guests. "Not only that, but I would also like to formally announce that my son, Wrythe Coal Schnee will be married to the eldest daughter of the Octavian Family, Valentina Orchid Octavian. The ceremony will be held before they both turn eighteen years of age…"

Coal tuned out to the rest of his father's speech to the audience. His body hurt too much to move and his mind was overcome with too much rage to even formulate a response. Orchid crouched down next to her new fiancé who was lying face up, golden yellow eyes met obsidian black as Orchid leaned in closer and pressed her lips against his.

"That was my first kiss my Wry-Wry…" Orchid giggled as she retreated back slightly. "And from what I understand, it was also yours correct?" Coal could only growl in pain and annoyance at the girl who was now engaged to himself.

"Fuck you…" He managed to growl out.

"Oh, don't you worry about that." Orchid slurred seductively. "You will be… We are destined to be together Wry-Wry. The fact alone that I could reflect not just one but two of you at the same time, and also… they talk. That alone proves that our semblances are unique when used with each other. That we are meant to be together."

Coal managed to lift his head off the ground and utter his final words before he passed out.

" **You don't control me…"**


	24. Chapter 24

The Schnee Black Sheep

I DON'T OWN RWBY

* * *

Chapter 42: Heist Part 1 – Secrets

"We are going to pull a heist." Coal exclaimed with an evil grin prompting Blake to raise an eyebrow uncontrollably.

"A heist?" She questioned. "Is anything you do actually legal?" Coal hummed over the questioned as he reached back into his wardrobe and pulled out a black turtleneck.

"Maybe?" He answered with a shrug. "Regardless Blake, go get changed already."

"Who else is coming with us?"

"Just us two…" Coal answered with a muffled voice as he tried to force the turtleneck over his head. "Everyone else is either too loud or inexperienced for this type of mission, you've got your ninja skills and your experience as the Black Cat, you're the obvious choice."

"So you just want to use me?" Blake said in a questioning tone knowing full well that if her blond haired partner had been around then that question would have been interpreted wrong.

"Well you wouldn't believe me if I said I just wanted to spend a little bit of quality time with you so…" Coal answered as he ripped the shirt over his head once more. "Damn I could have sworn I just bought this thing." He grumbled at the material that was now far too small for his bigger, preadult body.

"Are you implying that you secretly want to spend time with me?" Blake question walking up to the shirtless boy and locking eyes with him, a small smile uncontrollably pulling at her lips. Internally she immediately started to question why she had said that in the first place but what she was more worried about, was how her body completely reacted on its own accord and closed the gap between the two. They were mere inches apart by the time she finished her question. Coal started smirking himself as he edged even closer to the Faunus, still Blake didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable by the action, worried where this was going maybe, but not at all uncomfortable.

"And so what if I am?" Coal asked grinning his usual childish grin. Blake pushed down the heat that was rising at her cheeks and forced herself to get the last word in.

"Then let's go." Blake purred into his ear turning on her heel and walking out of his room to leave a stunned Coal who could only watch as the Faunus walked out of his room. He couldn't stop his eyes flicked downwards and gave a full once over of the Faunus' figure as she rounded the corner out of view and made for her own room. Minutes when by before the boy eventually had to blink and return from his flabbergasted state. His face turned a bright shade of red as he managed to utter on question to no one in particular.

"What the fuck just happened?"

As he asked the air, Blake was currently sitting on her bed being questioned by Yang and Weiss who were trying to get the Faunus to say anything at all. Blake had returned to the room in a much quieter mood than normal which prompted both the other girls to worry about her mental state once more. Blake didn't listen to anything that her teammates were saying as she was far too distracted by her own thoughts as to why she had just outright, and willingly flirted with the human. Not only that but she had enjoyed doing so as well. She had enjoyed watching as he became utterly speechless and completely bewitched by her… Only her. She could have sworn that when she glanced back at him when she had left, that he had checked her out as she walked away from him. Something which only made her happier and despite her best not to show it she had a small smile permanently stitched to her face as she recalled the comfortable feeling she had when she stood so close to the human.

Eventually Blake realised that she needed to get changed for her mission with said human, though she had completely forgotten that Weiss and Yang were still trying to get her to talk when she returned to the world of Remnant after a few minutes inside her own head.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked looking very concerned. Blake stood up and walked over to her own wardrobe to find the stealthiest clothes that she had.

"Yeah… Yeah I'm fine." Blake uttered as she started to rifle through her belongings wondering what the fuck had just happened.

"Yo Blake." Coal said poking his head through the door to team RWBY's room. "Might need to hit downtown Vale before we leave, none of my turtlenecks fit me anymore."

"Sure." Blake shrugged. "I've not got anything better than what I'm already wearing myself." She stated.

"Then let's get going!" Coal said as he retreated back out the door calling back inside at the same time. "I want to get there before dark!" Blake hummed an acceptance before she turned to see her teammate Weiss and Yang staring at her with slack jaws.

"What?"

"Are you two going on a date?" They asked in sync.

"NO!" Blake yelled furiously before storming out the room. "IT'S FOR A MISSION!" She stated slamming the door in protest. Despite what had just transpired between herself and the human, she was still adamant that there was nothing between them at all. And even if there was, she would do her best not to act on it and burry it. She was not looking for a new relationship at all. She found Coal leaning against the wall just outside her room waiting for her, having redressed himself thankfully.

"So, they are bothering you about it too huh?" He asked with a knowing smirk.

"They just don't seem to get it at all." Blake huffed in response as they stated walking side by side.

"Weiss hasn't shut up about trying to set me up with someone for years… You'll get used to it." Coal huffed also.

"Really?"

"No…" They both sighed in unison before Coal turned to a more upbeat attitude. "So, we need some gear for the heist, you know anywhere good?"

"You weren't planning on stealing from these places, were you?"

"Err… At least not anymore."

* * *

(9 hours later – Octavian Weapons Development HQ – Mistral)

"All I'm saying is that they have no respect for privacy." Blake protested with annoyance through a jet-black scarf that was pulled around the lower half of her face, muffling her voice as she and her human companion scaled the side of a sky scraper in the dead of night. Coal, climbing beside the Faunus, stopped to look at the Faunus, hanging onto the suction cups that were fixed to the glass building, and reaching over his shoulder and into his backpack to pull out a small hipflask to take a quick refreshing drink.

"I know right!" He agreed pulling down a black scarf of his own to show his face to the Faunus and took a quick drink from the flask before returning it to his bag. "They have no respect at all."

"And they have the complete nerve to continue to insinuate that we are doing it on the down low!" Blake continued to protest to someone who was in complete agreeance with her over the matter, though it did make her feel better to vent her frustrations.

"It's completely ridiculous!"

"Why would they even think that?"

"Because they are complete idiots and want to stir something up over nothing."

"Can't they just respect the fact that we are just perfectly happy as just friends?"

"I highly doubt that. Weiss usually finds a way of getting what she wants, and if she wants us together then she will not let this thing go."

"Ugh!"

"Should I be offended by that?"

"Obviously not! I just don't like what they are insinuating."

"Once again I feel like I should be offended by that…"

"Come on we need to get to the roof." Blake huffed from beside him as she started climbing once more.

"I know, I know…" Coal huffed pulling his scarf up once more to cover his face as the Faunus over took him. "It's my plan remem…" He cut himself off as he looked up to see where he was going and caught sight of Blake from underneath as she continued to climb higher. Coal would happily admit to being a pervert any day of the week, he and Jaune had even exchanged playboy magazines a few times, but right now he could only stare at the sight of the Faunus' ass wrapped tightly in skin tight leggings.

 _ **Dat ass…**_

"When we get to the top of this thing, I'm going to break your neck." Coal growled to himself as he forced himself to continue his ascent while trying not to focus too hard on the girl ahead of him. When he eventually reached the top, Blake was already standing by an air vent waiting for him.

"You coming or what?" She asked with a hidden smirk as she proceeded into the vent ahead of him once more.

"Just give me a sec…" Coal called back before summoning a small beowolf with glowing red eyes. The beast whimpered quietly before Coal grabbed its head in both hands and twisted. Breaking its neck in one fluid motion. "That feels sooooo much better." He sighed happily.

 _ **For you maybe**_

"You just going to stand there or are you going to get in here already?" Blake questioned from inside the vent having no clue as to what just transpired behind her.

 _ **We are not going to leave that hanging without making a comment, are we?**_

Coal summoned another grimm, this time it's eyes glowed a dark cobalt blue, and proceeded in snapping that monster's neck also. Why were his inner demons such assholes?

Coal climbed through the airshaft and finally caught up to the Faunus, because of the darkness, he didn't realise that she was directly in front of him into he crawled into her, headbutting her in the process.

"Ow!" Blake yelped as quietly as she could to not cause to much noise. "What the hell Coal!"

"Not my fault I can't see in the dark!" He quietly argued back. "This is the one right?"

"Yeah." Blake informed as she popped the lid of another vent that was between the two.

"Me first!" Coal cheerfully whispered, though Blake couldn't see, she was sure that he had a childish grin plastered over his face as he dropped down through the gap. Coal landed in a crouch and quickly rolled out the way to make space for Blake as she dropped down herself, landing gracefully and silently on the balls of her feet.

Coal looked back to see the Faunus rise from her crouched position. His eyes widened slightly as he watched the Faunus stand up in her thigh high black heeled boots, tight leggings and tight cropped black hoodie. Of all the outfits the Faunus had tried out earlier in the day, why had she picked the one that had left him completely speechless?

"Err… Coal?" Blake mumbled quietly, thankful that the scarf that covered the lower half of her face was also hiding the blush that was rising at her cheeks. The look in the boy's eyes made her internally jump for joy as his eyes fixated on her. Blake couldn't help herself as she uncontrollably stood up straight, placed her hands on her hips and put her weight onto one heel, posing for the human. "Do you like what you see?" She purred. _'What the fuck are you doing?'_ Blake inwardly yelled at herself, forgetting the real reason why they were really here. Coal blinked a few times before his face steeled for a moment, something that Blake noticed as it seemed as though he just had a very brief internal debate, before the usual childish light in his eyes returned.

"Maybe I do… Got a problem with that?" He asked with a husky tone of his own. _'What the fuck are you doing?'_ He cursed mentally as he and the Faunus continued to stare at each other in the darkness of the office building

"Shouldn't you…" Blake managed to awkwardly say.

"Start hacking? Yeah on it!" Coal finished quickly as he dashed over to a set of glass doors and started to pick the lock.

"Wrong one."

"Huh?"

"That's the assistant's office." Blake clarified for the Human. "One to your right." Coal looked to his right to see another set of glass doors in the moonlight shining through the windows and cursed under his breath as he moved over and started to pick the correct lock.

Blake eyed up the boy kneeling down on one knee as he skilfully fiddled with the mechanisms of the simple lock for a few seconds before her enhanced hearing heard a click and the door slowly opened. She could picture his childish grin right now as he slowly stood back up and made his way into the glass office and up to the terminal the opposite side of the room. Being a Faunus gave Blake the benefit of seeing almost perfectly in the dark and right now she could make out every detail of the boy as he rounded the desk. His face was completely covered from not only the scarf but also a black sleeveless hoodie that he had fixed over his head to cover his identifiable white hair. He wore a pair of his usual black combat pants as well as his ordinary boots also stating that above all else that he felt most comfortable in familiar attire. As the light from the terminal illuminated his covered face, Blake could see the pure concentration in his eyes as he started to hack the systems.

Blake took the opportunity to use the free time she had been granted while she worked to question exactly why she was here. Coal could have broken into the Octavian's Company building by himself, he had no need for herself so why exactly did he require her to be here exactly. All they had done so far was complain about Weiss and Yang constantly getting up in their business and lightly flirt with one another. But that wasn't anything different from usual, right? For the past few weeks they had been lightly flirting with one another to increase their score in a pointless game, but for a while now they had both seemed to be forgetting about the game and just continued to flirt regardless. Up until now, Blake had just continued on as normally as she could, seeing as how she not only enjoyed the humans company, but also looked forward to it on a daily basis. After denying everything for so long, could Yang have been right all along? Was there something between her and Coal? Something that she had forced herself not to see before now.

Over by the desk, Coal typed furiously on the keyboard as he searched through the company's files and documents, looking for anything that seemed either fishy or off about the company's finances and business partners. Surely the White Fang had to be getting their weapons from somewhere. Though he had very little to go on, he was sure that the timing of his ex-fiancée appearing just couldn't be a coincidence. As he continued to work he repeated one of the lines that his eldest sister told him when he was just a child, no older than eight years old.

' _Coincidences don't exist Valiant. Everything happens for a reason.'_

Coal had used those words to justify everything he had done over the years. The dust in his back, his and his twins kidnapping, all the times he had killed, and even how he ended up going to Beacon with his sister. Everything had a rhyme or reason too it, some form of logic behind it… So why when it came to the Faunus, standing on the other side of the desk, did everything that he had ever understood simply not make a damn lick of fucking sense. He knew it deep down inside of him that he should want to force Blake to give up every detail she had on her ex, but something was stopping him. For some illogical reason, he had stopped caring about the Faunus who was responsible for his torcher. He was more than happy to stay at beacon and have a normal life with his friends there. Despite recent events with his ex-fiancée and his countdown clock, he was looking forward to returning home where his sister was waiting for him alongside his best friend Jaune and his team and he couldn't forget about the sisters Ruby and Yang. He knew they were all there waiting for him. So why, when he returned from his stint in the asylum, did he go to find Blake first? That part made the least sense to him.

"Any luck?" Blake asked him, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Nothing yet… There are a shit ton of files to check through." He said in a whisper.

"Just copy them to a pen drive or something and look at them later!" Blake huffed as she crept up behind him and looked over his shoulder, completely befuddled by the amount of coding on the screen. "What am even looking at here?"

"Oh this?" Coal asked looking over his shoulder at the Faunus pressing a few more keys and bringing up a different screen. "This is Pyrrha's Facebook page, wanna see something funny?"

"You are a complete child, you know that." Blake deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. Coal also rolled his eyes and returned to his work silently counting down in his head until he finally got to one. "What were you going to show me?" She asked looking over the boy's shoulder to see an image of the girl from a few years ago… "Damn Pyrrha was a hard core goth." Blake gasped with wide eyes.

"Funny right." Coal chuckled lightly. "Oh yeah… You should see the tattoo she's got on her back."

…

"Holy shit…" Blake gasped in awe.

"Yep."

"Give me a go!" Coal chuckled at the Faunus' request and made space for her to use the computer. "Can you get…"

"I already logged on as Yang for you." Coal chuckled knowing full well what the Faunus would have requested.

"We really should be working here." Blake stated though not stopping herself from embarrassing her partner.

"I already set up a download for the encrypted files that I couldn't check." Coal stated looking over her shoulder and watching the Faunus type away. "You have very little faith in how quickly I can work."

"Oh really." Blake slandered as she slowly turned to face the human. Before she could make another quip, her ears twitched having heard something moving around just outside the office. "Get down!" She seethed through gritted teeth pushing Coal down to the floor and behind the desk out of view of the rest of the office. Coal tried to get back up but was quickly stopped by Blake who had to pin him down and put her hand over his mouth to stop him from talking. Her cat ears continued to pick up movement around them but she could not for the life of her tell exactly who or what was making that sound. Coal rolled his eyes at the Faunus who now straddled his midsection. He figured that she must have heard something and reactive instinctively by forcing him down under the desk to hide. But did she really have to push him so hard?

 _She must really like being on top_

Coal uncontrollable let out a low growl making a mental note to snap a third neck later on.

"It's a janitor." Blake whispered from above.

"Did you have to hit my head against the ground like that?"

"Will you shut up before he hears us?"

"Not until you say you're sorry!"

"What? No, I'm trying to stop us from getting caught here."

"Say it!"

"No."

"Say it!"

"No!"

"Grrrr…"

"Fine, I'm sorry I hit your head."

"Apology accepted." Coal smirked in victory before reverting to a more serious look. "So, what's he doing?"

"Just general cleaning, he's wearing headphones so I don't think he will hear us if we stay quiet enough but he is blocking the main exit… We might be here a while…" Blake sighed.

"Well can you at least get off me?"

"Huh?" Blake looked down at him confused for a second before she remembered that she had dived down on top of him when she forced him to the ground. A sly smile grew at her lips as she leaned down closer and purred into his ear. "Are you not enjoying this?"

"Well now that you mentioned it…" Coal purred back placing his hands on either side of the girls hips. They stayed in that position for what seemed like hours to them, but in reality, it only lasted five seconds, before they separated away from each other with flustered cheeks and sat as far apart as they could while still remaining hidden.

"Ooookay…" Blake whispered. "This is getting out of hand."

"Yep." Coal agreed while focusing his gaze out the window. "Far too out of hand."

"I mean… Friends can joke around with each other right, but that was…"

"Over the line."

"Way over the line."

"Exactly what I was thinking… So, let's just forget that ever happened and just go back to normal."

"Right." Blake nodded in agreement. "There is nothing between us after all so we shouldn't let one little quip get the best of us."

"Exactly." Coal agreed. They fell into an uncomfortable silence after that moment while waiting for the janitor to disappear so that they could continue working. Coal couldn't take the silence any longer and decided to try and break the awkwardness. "So, where do you actually come from?"

"This is really what we are going to do?" Blake sighed in annoyance.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"Ugh…" She sighed before looking towards the human, who had magically conjured a beer can out of thin air once more. "When will you quit drinking?" She seethed through gritted teeth.

"When I feel like it." Coal shrugged.

"And when will that be?"

"When or if I survive this operation."

 _ **You fool!**_

 _ **You fucking idiot!**_

 _I couldn't help myself. A gentleman I honest after all._

Coal grumbled at himself for letting one of himself be influenced by one of his fractured parts. As soon as the words left his mouth he instantly regretted saying them as he knew that he would have perked Blake's curiosity. Well, he couldn't lie to her forever, though he would have given it his best shot.

"What operation?" Blake asked confused.

"Have you ever heard the story of how curiosity killed the cat?" Coal asked trying to find a way out of telling his secret to the Faunus.

"What are you hiding from me?" Blake pestered onward irritated that he was still keeping secrets from her. though she was being hypocritical as there was still one secret that she had never shared with anyone. Something that she would happily take to the grave.

With a heavy sigh, Coal answered the Faunus truthfully. "I'm dying."

"That's not exactly the best thing to joke about Coal!" Blake spat with an irritated tone as she shot the boy a glare. Her eyes immediately saw the honesty in his own obsidian eyes looking out towards the broken moon, which forced her to consider the possibility. It wasn't long before her mind pieced everything together. The papers scattered around his room, the amount of time he had been studying, the numerous trips into Vale unaccompanied… And then there was Ozpin and his question to her. "You mean… You are actually…"

"Yeah, I have until the end of the year…" Coal clarified emotionlessly, not daring to look at the Faunus.

*PING*

Coal spun round and rose to a knee so that he could operate the computer and still maintain cover, he could just about make out the single maintenance employee at the very centre of the office blocks just beyond the glass office where he resumed his hacking.

"That's everything." He said as he pulled out a pen drive from a USB port. "I'll have some time later to crack the encrypted files when we get to the place Oz booked for us."

"YOU'RE DYING!" Blake screamed, alerting the janitor who rushed over to an alarm.

"Oh for the love of…" Coal sighed before the inevitable quickly approached.

Seconds after the alarm sounded, the double doors on the opposite side of the open floored office block burst open revealing dozens of armed security guards carrying submachine guns. Coal immediately slammed his right palm into the ground, creating a very thick wall of ice between the two and the guards.

"Way to keep things professional Kitten!" Coal shouted as the men opened fire on his defensive wall of ice, he drew his own gun and poked round the edge of the ice barrier and let loose himself. "You just had to…"

"When were you going to tell me you were dying!" Blake yelled back furiously interrupting the human as she started to open fire form the other edge.

"I just did!" Coal argued back. "Reloading!"

"So why did it take this long for you to actually tell me!" Blake shouted back. "How long have you known?"

"I don't think this is the best time for this discussion!"

"HOW LONG?"

Over on the other side of the office, one of the guards stopped firing and shouted.

"PHRASING!"

"THANK YOU!" Coal shouted back with an amused smirk underneath his scarf before firing an explosive round at the man who actually had a sense of humour, hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying back. "SORRY ABOUT THAT!"

*SLAP*

"OW! What the hell was that for?" Coal shouted angrily at the Faunus.

"For not telling me that you were dying!" Blake stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world as she continued to fire at the guards.

"Well it's not something I can easily bring up you know!"

"Phrasing!"

*BOOM*

"ITS NOT AS FUNNY THE SECOND TIME!" Coal yelled to the guards furiously after firing another explosive shot. He was forced to retreat back behind the wall of ice when they unloaded more bullets at him.

"Were you even going to tell me?" Blake asked reloading her weapon and ignoring his childish remarks.

"Well… If I survived maybe." Coal answered sheepishly.

"What do you mean if?" Blake asked before she remembered his papers. "Your survival rate?"

"Is only twenty four percent." Coal clarified, reinforcing the ice defences which were taking a beating from the barrage of bullets. "Can we seriously talk about this later!"

"Oh we ARE going to talk about this!" Blake assured as she fired at the glass window, opening a gap to the outside world which she proceeded in jumping out towards. Coal quickly followed suit as before long he was running down the side of the building using his semblance to keep himself attached to the building with a gravity dust enhanced glyph. Blake fell most of the way down before launching her ribbon scythe and embedding it in the steelwork of the building, swinging down to the ground with ease. She rolled out of the short fall and quickly rounded on the human who had just ran down the remainder of the building with just as much ease… And slapped him again.

"Come on Kitten!" Coal protested rubbing his now raw red cheek as the Faunus started to walk away from him down the street, away from the sirens that were heading their way. Blake gave no audible response as she ditched her hoodie and scarf to reveal a tight purple crop top underneath and tied her hair up in a small pony tail. "Well then I guess just pout." Coal mumbled as he also ditched his hoodie in a bin and caught up with the Faunus, pulling out two new hoodies, a light blue and a red one, from his backpack and handed the blue one to the Faunus who zipped it up in silence. When Coal had donned the new hoodie he and Blake walked off into the night, vanishing from the scene.

* * *

"I'm not happy." Blake finally said after the door to their hotel room closed. Ozpin had been kind enough to arrange some accommodation for the two of them while they were in Mistral however, what he failed to mention was that he booked a single room between them… With a single bed. Coal vowed to break the headmaster's arms when he returned to Beacon after he and Blake agreed to never speak of the matter again, after Coal offered to sleep on the floor.

"Are you ever?" Coal shot back.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You have been acting weird ever since Orchid showed up!" Coal retorted raising his voice slightly.

"Me? ME? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HID SUCH AN IMPORTANT THING FROM ME!"

"WHAT? THE FACT THAT I WAS PERVIOUSLY ENGAGED OR THAT IM DYING?"

"BOTH!" Blake shouted. "You have the nerve to bitch to me about not letting people in and you go and do the exact same thing!"

"Like I'm the only one keeping secrets!" Coal continued to argue. "You're the one who can't admit to why you ran from the White Fang in the first place!"

"That is personal information!"

"And me dying isn't?"

"That's different! We can help you…"

"No Blake you CAN'T!" Coal shouted with hatred, his eyes flickering red. Blake felt his aura spike and her animal instincts kicked in, they told her to run before things got worse. Blake backed down slightly, as did Coal who leant back against the wall and slowly side down to the floor. "Four years of research from myself, my doctor, the General and his best scientists… And even they can't give me better results. The amount of time and money that we've invested into finding a means of extracting the dust and we come out with a shitty outcome. How was I supposed to bring that up to my sister after I died only a few weeks ago? Tell me how I'm supposed to force such a heavy weight onto the shoulders of Ruby, who has already killed me once and will probably blame herself further because I'm dying again? And then there's you Blake… How could I tell the one person who I feel the most comfortable around and risk that relationship! Tell me… What the fuck am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know!" Blake finally yelled in defeat. Coal could only sigh at the Faunus remembering what she had said in the office, when she thought that she was speaking as a third-party source about someone else.

"Go get some sleep Blake, I'm gonna start decrypting these files." Coal ordered emotionlessly.

"Won't you…"

"Just go to bed." Coal ordered again interrupting the Faunus before she could argue any further. Blake complied and crept under the sheets feeling her heart break at the same time. She had no idea what to say to the dying boy. No idea what to tell him when he was in such a terrible condition. The worst part was that he knew she was keeping her own secrets from him as well and she hated that she just couldn't tell him, even after he blurted out everything to her.

Coal typed slowly and as quietly as he could on his laptop concentrating hard on the data in front of him. After a long while he looked over at the sleeping Faunus, or so he presumed anyway, and pulled up a different file all together. Not one he had just stolen from the Octavian's network, but a medical file on Blake Belladonna herself… One that she had filled in under a different alias. One that he had found by accident while scouring the net for any information on the Black Cat and Blake Belladonna when he went to erase any incriminating evidence against her and tying her in with the White Fang. Blake didn't need to tell him her secret, he already knew.

Hours passed before Coal finally shut his laptop down, just as the sun started to rise signalling the new day. Coal sighed heavily and stood up holding the laptop in both hands and snapped it in two. The sound alerted the Faunus who suddenly jerked awake and looked at the source of the sound.

"What was that?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

"Nothing…" Coal muttered. "The files contained no reference to any black-market trades or reference to the White Fang."

"So, the mission was a bust?" Blake asked.

"No… Not yet. Time for one more heist, this time I'm hitting the Octavian's family estate. There must be something linking them together."

"Maybe there isn't Coal." Blake tried to reason with him before he got himself hurt by pursuing something that just wasn't there. "It's not like you have much evidence to begin with."

"Perhaps your right. In fact you probably are…" Coal huffed crashing back down to the floor in defeat. "But I'd rather be sure." They fell into another silence after that. Blake was overrun with thought and worries over Coal. she wanted nothing more than to discuss the topic further with him and formulate a means of keeping him alive, however, she just couldn't bring herself to voice the fact that he was dying. It broke her heart to think about it further. She needed a distraction

"Why did you even ask me to come on this mission?" Blake asked trying to forget about the elephant in the room.

"I figured you could use a break from Orchid… You were acting strange when she showed up."

"So, you wanted to get me away from your fiancée?"

"EX-Fiancée." Coal corrected. "I figured a mission would be good to vent some frustration, that and Mistral has a great seafood place a few blocks from here."

"Wait…" Blake said slowly as she fixed her eyes on the human on the opposite side of the room and asked disbelievingly. "You brought me here, to get me away from your ex-fiancée and take me on a date?"

…

"Well when you put it like that… Yeah, I guess I did."

* * *

(Elsewhere, Unknown location)

A single hooded figure stood amidst a sea of tall leavless rotting trees. Watching as the beheaded grimm around them dissolved slowly into the surrounding mist. A scroll buzzed and the figure retrieved the device and brought it up to the side of the hood that covered the figures face.

"…what..." came a barely audible whisper from the figure.

…

"…no…"

…

"…really…"

…

"…fine..."

The figure ended the call and repocketed the scroll. Before walking off further into the mist.

"…I'm coming for you, Executioner… …you could use the exercise…"

The figure whispered in a barely audible voice as they disappeared in complete silence.


	25. Chapter 25

The Schnee Black Sheep

Chapter 25: Heist Part 2 – Acceptance and Regret

A hooded figure stepped off of a bulkhead far from the mistral boarder. Falling deep into the trees and disappearing in the dark shadow cast by the forest. Not long after the figure dropped, a case attached to a long heavy rope soon followed, having been dropped by an unseen soldier. Within a few seconds that same soldier started to winch the case back up to the bulkhead. Once the crate had been loaded, the soldier turned to the pilot and gave a thumb up, signalling that the cases contents had been delivered. The pilot then spoke into his headset.

"General Ironwood Sir, the Myth is in the field!" Static came over the headset before the piolet was answered.

"Good… Good."

"Permission to speak freely Sir!"

"Granted."

"Is this really the best idea, he's just a kid?"

"True… But at least with Myth, things will be quick and as painless as possible."

"Yes Sir! My apologies Sir!"

"None needed Ruin. You have every right to know about your old partners predicament."

"Thank you Sir!"

"Stop calling me Sir! You're retired after all and this is only a favour."

"Well when the great Winter Schnee asked us personally to ensure that we got the job done quickly… How could we turn her down?"

"True. Very true Ruin."

The transmission disconnected and the pilot moved the bulkhead away from the drop zone and back to the military outpost. The man known as Ruin, had full faith that 'Myth' would get the job done exactly like the General had said. Quickly and painlessly.

* * *

"What?" Blake asked wide eyed and confused. Apparently even with enhanced hearing she had somehow managed to misinterpreted what Coal had just said…

"It would basically be a date after all." Coal shrugged. "I mean, that is what people do on dates after all isn't it?"

"You are really asking me on a date?" Blake questioned again not believing for a moment that he was being serious. Coal rolled his eyes as he stood up and strode over to the Faunus who was still sitting upright in the bed after a peaceful night's sleep and looked into her bright amber eyes and asked.

"Blake, once we have what we came on this mission for, will you go on a date with me?" Coal asked with a slight smile. Blake stared back into his obsidian eyes for a long time before she gave an answer.

"No…" She muttered, though internally, when Coal had first asked her subconscious wanted to say yes immediately.

"Okay…" Coal said half heartily but still kept his smile to show he wasn't that upset by the fact.

"I mean… I don't know, your dying aren't you so, why?" Blake asked confused. Perhaps Coal was just after a pity date or something along those lines. Yet, Blake would never believe that for a second. Sure, he could be manipulative when necessary but she doubted he would be that extreme. Maybe he was lying and wasn't actually dying to begin with? Blake needed to be sure of all of those little details before she could think about changing her mind.

"Sure, I'm dying." Coal shrugged as he pondered for an answer. "I'm just tired of dodging around and denying something which, if what's been happening lately is any indication, is that there might be something between you and me."

"How do I even know your telling me the truth?" Blake questioned as she tried to ignore the fact that yes there might be something between them. "Are you really dying or are you just trying to swindle me into a pity date?" Coal took a small step back and turned away from the Faunus, lifting his shirt over his head and showing Blake his bare back. Blake tried to protest before she quickly cut herself off at the sight. Coal's back was a sickly green colour with dead skin peeling off around the location of his brand which at present moment, could be seen as a light burn scar between his shoulders. Not only that, but Blake could also see dark veins pulsing around the brand, by that indication alone Blake could tell that his heart rate was slower than normal. Coal also reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll and tossed it over his shoulder at the Faunus who caught it easily, thankful for the distraction before she realised what she was now looking at. His aura reserves were slowly decreasing.

59%

58%

57%

"Is that enough evidence for you?" Coal said emotionlessly as he pulled the shirt back over his head and took the scroll back from a shocked Blake who was trying to wrap her head around the entire ordeal. She was brought from her thoughts as Coal continued. "I would never ask pity from anyone. You really want to know why I never said anything? It's because I don't want any of it. I'd rather take this to the grave not telling a single person than have everyone change the way they look at me because of this shitty situation."

"But your dying!" Blake protested in a yell. "You still should have told someone!" She continued to yell her eyes fill with both fear and pity.

"Don't look at me like that Blake." Coal said in a growl and his eyes narrowed in anger. "Of all the people I wanted to tell, you were at the top of that list because I thought that you would never look at me like that."

"So, I'm not allowed to worry about you!"

"No. You're not."

"You selfish asshole!" Blake said as she got right up in the humans face. "When will you stop acting on your own and let me help you!"

"How can you help me?"

"I can… I…"

"Exactly." Coal sighed as he returned to his seat against the wall on the opposite side of the room, still smiling slightly as he locked eyes with the Faunus, seeing the regret in her eyes. "That bothers you doesn't it."

"Of course it does!" Blake screamed. "Your dying! A person that I care about is going to die!"

"Ha! No I won't." Coal laughed getting a weird look from Blake. "I have a promise to keep to my sister so I refuse to die."

"Coal it is not that simple."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't!"

"Is to."

"Coal for fuck sake will you take this seriously for two seconds! Please." Blake screamed once more. Coals smiled vanished from his face as he become serious.

"I've taken this serious since the day that it was put in me Blake." He spoke in a serious tone. One which Blake had heard very little of but the authority his tone held spoke volumes. He had spent far too much time with soldiers to speak in that tone at his age. "I'm scared. Honestly that is the truth. I am terrified I will never see my sisters again, that I will never be able to go home… I've been scared my whole life wondering when I would find out exactly when I could die. Now that I know, I at least have some form of closure." Coal finished. Blake slowly walked over and sat beside him as he slowly came to accept what he had just said. It appears that she wasn't the only one burying feelings.

"It's okay to be scared Coal." Blake assured as she bumped her shoulder against his.

"I know that… But if I'm scared then what kind of example does that set for Weiss?"

"I don't think that it would matter much." Blake assured once more.

"Winter isn't scared of anything." Coal muttered.

"You really look up to your sister don't you?" Blake asked smiling, it was refreshing to see that Coal had a sensitive side. Coal gave no verbal confirmation but a quick nod informed Blake of everything she needed to know. "You talk about her a lot, what's she like?"

"Badass swordswoman with a short fuse." Coal smirked as he remembered something. "When we were kids, Winter would sit Weiss and I down and watch crappy films all night long. Weiss would bring the popcorn, I'd bring some form of sugary drink and Winter would pick the film. I miss movie night… Oh yeah, this one time when we were on a mission this guy on our squad tried hitting on her, he ended up with a new codename after that."

"What happened?" Blake asked half curious at the story, but more so that he would return back to his childish self. She regretted doubting the human's intentions earlier.

"How do you think he got the name Ruin?" Blake shrugged waiting for Coal to answer. "He got sent flying through this old stone tower during the mission because he slapped Winters ass." Coal laughed. "Ruined a perfectly good outpost and attracted a lot of attention from nearby Grimm, needless to say the mission was ruined as well."

"So that's where the name comes from." Blake giggled. Thankful she had found a distraction for them both.

"Yeah… Bastard had a serious drinking problem as well." Coal said as he reached for his backpack and pulled out a can of beer.

"Your one to talk."

"Please, at least I drink mine by the can and not by the six-pack." Coal smirked before the can was snatched away from him. Coal made to protest before Blake cut him off.

"Okay, I've thought about it and maybe I will take you up on that date." She announced. Coal instantly shut up as the Faunus looked as though she had more to say, a lot more. "But if we find that maybe there is something between us then we are going to need to make some ground rules."

"Seems fair." Coal shrugged. Being new to this kind of situation he figured that it was best to let the Faunus lead.

"First of all, no one finds out about this until we at least figure out what 'this' is." Blake said as she pointed between the two.

"That's reasonable. I can keep secrets." Coal shrugged, both he and his inner demons agreeing to the term

"So I've realised." Blake deadpanned. "Secondly, we are not going to have sex right away."

"Understandable." Coal shrugged once more once again his inner demons agreeing to the rule. "I have a no sex before marriage policy anyway." Blake raised an eyebrow at the boys policy, she didn't like how honest he sounded. Damn the smut!

"Thirdly. You're going to stop drinking."

"I guess I can cut down…"

"No, you're going to stop all together." Blake instructed. Coals face scrunched up as he started inwardly debating over the rule. "That is what you have a problem with?" Blake protested in annoyance, she figured the rule against sex would have been the bigger problem like iwht any other male in the world. Then again, she forgot about the fact that Coal was probably a virgin despite his perverted tendencies. More than once she had found his playboy magazines lying around his room and she had even seen him and Jaune trading them like Pokémon cards.

"I will try." Was all Coal managed to say after a full minute of council with his inner demons. Crimson didn't care and shrugged it off with ease, Wrythe aligned with the Faunus however Cobalt out right refused to accept those terms. Damn them all to the fiery pits of hell. "But if that's a rule then I'm making a rule that when we are alone together, the bow comes off."

"What?" Blake asked in protest and confusion at the weird request. "Why?"

"Because if I'm going to date you, then I date all of you Blake. Ears as well." Coal stated as if it was obvious. Blake just looked at him even more confused.

"They don't bother you?" She asked in an unusual timid tone as she cast her eyes downward. While she realised that he accepted that she was a Faunus she just couldn't see him actually liking her cat like features at all.

"Nah." Coal said as he reached up and untied the bow. "They cute." He said as he started to scratch behind the cat ears, getting a rather loud purr from the Faunus. "As is that." He chuckled before needing to dodge an incoming slap from the girl. It had taken a while but finally he was getting used to predicting them.

"Not. Funny." Blake muttered narrowing her eyes at the boy as he started to tie the bow around his left hand and wrist like it was a makeshift bandage. "I'm not getting that back, am I?"

"Nope." Coal smirked. Blake rolled her eyes smiling also, it was a good thing she had brought a spare. "Oh, and one more thing… Don't tell Weiss I'm dying."

"You haven't even told Weiss?" Blake questioned surprised that she had found out before the boy's twin.

"Nope and she isn't going to find out either." Coal said as he narrowed his eyes at Blake daring her to betray him. Coal let out a rather loud and long yawn and headed to the now empty bed having decided to take a quick nap. Apparently not sleeping for over 48 hours had some not so great side effects such as the lack of coming up with excuses and lies. Who knew.

"Err… What are you doing?" Blake asked as he flopped down on the bed fully clothed.

"Going to take a quick nap…" Coal yawned. "I'll be up in a few hours. Once I'm awake, we will go and raid the Octavian's house and check the bastard's personal terminal."

"And then?"

"Then we go out." Coal said after letting out another long yawn. "Work comes before pleasure…" He trailed off falling into a deep sleep. Blake sighed not really knowing what to do with herself while the boy slept. Good thing she had brought a book to pass some time.

* * *

"…target located…"

"Understood. When you have a shot… Take it."

"…affirmative…"

* * *

(8 hours later)

"Ugh… We really need to fix that reflex of yours!" Blake protested annoyingly as she and Coal walked through the forest leading up to the Octavian's estate in the late afternoon daylight. They were once more wearing their stealth outfits and Blake had replaced the bow wrapped around Coal's hand with a spare one which now hide her ears once more.

"I said I'm sorry!" Coal argued back as apologetically as he could. He had lost count how many times he had apologised for his reflex acting up while he slept and he almost shot at Blake once more… He really needed to stop sleeping with weapons nearby.

"This relationship isn't going to work if I constantly have to edge around you!"

"Well do you have any bright ideas? I'm open to suggestions."

"Have you tried therapy?"

"I've had therapy for the last five years Blake, truth be told… It only made it worse. Damn doctors."

"I don't really see another way of curing it other than finding what triggers it." Blake summarised as the came face to face with a cliff wall. "Err… Did you get us lost again?"

"That was one time!" Coal protested once more. Seriously the Faunus wouldn't let up on him today.

"More like three…" Blake mumbled just loud enough for Coal to hear.

"Anyway!" Coal continued as he stepped forward and pushed on a rock that was sticking out from the wall. Suddenly a secret door swung open in the cliff face, revealing a narrow hallway lit by torches. "Yes! It still works."

"Do I even want to know how you knew about this?" Blake asked raising an eyebrow.

"Would you get mad if I said that I spent a few weeks here after my engagement was announced?"

"Why would that make me mad?"

"Because for some reason, mentioning that crazy chick ticks you off." Coal shrugged as he walked into the narrow passageway, Blake following close behind.

As the two walked further and further into the dimly lit passageway, Coal pulled the leather glove over his right hand and flicked his wrist, expelling a small amount of fire dust over the glove and igniting it, creating a makeshift torch with his hand.

"That doesn't hurt?" Blake questioned looking at the flaming hand.

"Nah, I made this thing to basically absorb mass temperature changes. How do you think I'm able to hold freezing ice with no issues?"

"Noted." Blake hummed as they walked further until coal suddenly stopped in his tracks and she bumped into him. "What the hell Coal? Why did you suddenly stop?"

"Err…"

"What's wrong?" Blake said as she peered round the side of him. She couldn't see anything except for the boy's fear stricken face. "Coal…" She questioned as she noticed that dangling just in front of his face, was a spider about the size of her thumbnail.

"Spider…" Coal whimpered.

"No freaking way…" Blake said disbelievingly, smirking behind him. "You are scared of a little spider." She stated more than asked stifling a giggle. Coal stood frozen in place not taking his eyes away from the horrific, deadly creature as to make sure that it didn't get any closer. Blake couldn't contain herself any longer as she let out the quiet laughter that she had been trying to keep down. "Of all the things… You can't swim and your scared of spiders. HA-HA is there anything else I should know about?"

"I'm mildly allergic to dogs…" he muttered as he hugged the wall and edged slowly around the spider.

"Pffft." Blake had to stifle another giggle. It was refreshing to see Coal in such a passive manor despite everything that was currently happening to him. She stared at his back for a long while as they continued to walk through the stone hallway lit by the boys flaming hand. "Coal?"

"What is it Blake?"

"How can you act like nothing is wrong?" Blake asked as she caught up with him quickly. "Not that I want to keep bringing it up or anything but are you really okay? You are dying but you seem to be taking this thing… Rather well."

"You think that this would change me?" Coal questioned back as he looked over his shoulder at the Faunus.

"No… Yes… I don't know."

"Blake I've had this stuff in me for years. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm basically a walking time bomb, the only thing that actually scares me is not seeing the people I care about anymore. Like I said earlier."

"We will find a way to cure you." Blake assured confidently as she locked eyes with the boys, smiling.

"I know." Coal said smiling back as he stopped under a ladder leading up to a hatch. "You ready?" He asked looking up at the hatch and pulling up the scarf around his neck.

"Are you?" Blake asked as she mirrored his action.

"Nope…" Coal sighed shaking his head, extinguishing the flame around his hand before he started climbing. Blake figured that by the heavy sigh that he made that he was not looking forward to entering this ex fiancée's home again. Not that she was interested in his previous arrangement, she was curious in exactly why he was actively against the whole thing. Orchid was a beautiful young woman and a wealthy heiress after all.

Coal popped his head through the open hatch having assure that the coast was clear and proceeded to continue to pull himself up and out of the meter by meter gap in the floor ensuring that he didn't hit his head against the bed that hid the trap door. Blake soon followed after him and had to lie beside the boy in order to not hit her head also.

"Cramped isn't it?" Blake questioned in a whisper. Smirking at the boy whilst simultaneously invading his space bubble.

"Not the time for jokes Blake." Coal whispered back, surprising Blake by the seriousness of his tone. "I do not want to spend more time here than necessary!"

"What are you afraid of? Orchid is back at Beacon."

"That isn't what bothers me…" Coal said as he checked the room before crawling out of the space. Blake crawled out of the space also, confused by the boy's tone, before realisation hit her like blue shell in Mario cart… She and Coal stood up in a room which was outfitted for one purpose only.

"What. The. Fuck." Blake uttered in complete shock. Finally realising why Coal actively avoided the Octavian heiress.

"Erase this image from your mind." Coal growled as he swiftly and quietly made his way over to the double doors and eased one open, peering through the gap in order to check if anyone was around.

"Coal, what the fuck?"

"Not now Blake."

"COAL!" Blake growled harshly.

"What do you want me to say Blake?" Coal said as he fixed his eyes on the girl in irritation. "Orchid has a particular taste."

"I don't think designing her bedroom to be a BDSM sex dungeon counts as 'a particular taste'." Blake growled in mock impression. Damn rich families, they always had weird tastes.

"Technically…"

"Oh I'm sure I don't want to hear this…"

"Technically this is what she called the honeymoon suite."

…

"Yeah, I did not want to know that." Blake deadpanned.

"Then don't ask!" Coal sighed as he crept into the hallway and started to navigate his way around the mansion. Blake followed at his heels wondering how he was so sure of where he was going seeing as how he had gotten them lost on the way here through the forest and also got himself turned around at Beacon numerous times on a daily basis. Then again, he did actively try and avoid the creepy girl that was his ex-fiancée so if he was ever going to remember anything, it was the ins and outs of her own home so that he had plenty of escape routes. Blake was broken from her thoughts when she heard the sound of humming coming from the boy in front of her.

"Is that the mission impossible tune?" Blake asked in annoyance.

"No!" Coal whispered back insulted by the question. "I'm not that cliché… Its pink panther. We really need to have you watch a film or two."

"I prefer books."

"Yeah… But still. Maybe then you would understand half of the things I say." Coal said as he opened another set of double doors into an extremely large office like room, complete with ceiling high bookshelves and a large mahogany desk with a single terminal sitting on it. "Keep an eye out while I hack this thing." Coal ordered as he glided across the wooden floors and started typing away. Blake scoffed just loud enough for him to hear and kept a watchful eye on the hallway leading up to the office through a crack in the barely open door. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay I may be new to this whole, dating thing, but that was not nothing." Coal said rolling his eyes as he located the only encrypted set of files on the whole network.

"I said it's nothing." Blake irritably growled back trying to keep her voice as quiet as she could.

"Okay then." Coal shrugged as he continued on trying to open the files, counting down in his head.

3

2

1

"I just think it's funny how..."

"There is it." Coal smirked as he cracked the file's encryption key right when he expected too, having not heard the Faunus speaking to him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Huh… Oh right sorry, I was kind distracted by my own awesomeness at being a badass spy." Coal smirked like a small child as he looked through the data. Blake glared at the distracted boy who didn't notice her gaze. Coal's face became increasingly neutral as he continued to look through the amount of data in silence before he finally spoke once more. "Well fuck nuggets…"

"What?" Blake questioned at his annoyed tone.

"It's all porn…" Coal deadpanned, scrolling thought the data once more to double check he hadn't missed anything. "It's all fucking porn!" He growled in complete annoyance.

"Seriously?" Blake questioned again, smirking in victory as she realised she was right when she said that he could have been wrong over the entire situation.

"More BDSM to be precise… And this is not the time for an 'I told you so' Blake." Coal grumbled.

"I wasn't going to say that." Blake said, forcing down a laugh as that was actually precicly what she was going to say. "I was going to say something along the lines of rich families and disturbing tastes."

"I agree…" Coal said as he rubbed his eyes.

"Then what does that say about yours and Weiss' tastes?" Blake questioned with an amused smirk.

"I do not want that mental image…" Coal sighed. "Let's just get out of here." He muttered in defeat as he fell a step behind Blake who took point on the return journey.

"I told you so." Blake smirked in victory as Coal dropped down from the ladder back in the passageway. Coal remained silent as they wandered through the dimly lit passageway and back out into the fading daylight above the trees. They continued to walk in silence before Blake nudged his shoulder with her own, breaking the complete silence around them and the trees. "Cheer up Fluffles. Can't win them all."

"I know." Coal huffed looking above the trees. "But it would have been nice to complete phase two…"

"Huh?"

"Oh right. I have this plan to eradicate the White Fang. Phase two was supposed to be cutting their supply chain but that's now down the drain."

"Well… Why don't you come along with us on a mission." Blake hummed thinking back to how Weiss was so adamant about involving her twin from the start.

"Huh?"

"Team RWBY is going on an unofficial mission to find out some information about the White Fang and their partners. If you want…"

"I'll pass."

"But why?"

"One reason. It's a team RWBY mission. Ruby could use the experience and I'd only get in the way." Coal shrugged. "And in hindsight, you were probably right about being nicer to Ruby about the whole she killed me thing. When your mission succeeds, I'll apologise to her formally."

"That is reasonable." Blake smiled at him getting a smile back.

"Besides…" Coal said happily as he placed both hands behind his head in comfort. "We still have a date to…" He trailed off as he started to fall forward uncontrollably. Blake made to catch him before she herself started to feel dizzy and started falling also. Both teens hit the ground within seconds of each other, Blake completely out cold whereas Coal still remained somewhat conscious as he lifted his blurred gaze to see a figure looming over him, carrying an absurdly large, jet black sniper rifle. Neither he or Blake had heard the shot but Coal knew that there had been two bullets fired from that rifle. The fact there were two targets meant that only two shots were needed and his old squad mate had a knack for being quiet, if not completely silent. "Fuck you too… Myth…" He managed to get out as he fell unconscious, remembering the feeling of his squad mate and the tranquillisers that they used against him in the past. He had forgotten one of the most important lessons that he had been taught when he had first met the person known as Myth. Be wary or complete silence, it is usually deadly.

"…target apprehended…" Muttered the figure in almost complete silence.

* * *

Blake awoke with a splitting head ache and in a very unfamiliar place. She sat up slowly finding herself lying on top a bed of a room where she had no memory of how she got there. She remembered going to the Octavian's estate, seeing that terrifying room, finding absolutely nothing linking the family to the White Fang, and then leaving… How did she end up here again?

"It's about time you woke up." Said a voice from her left side. Blake turned to see a person she had not expected to see again since she had first seen him when Coal had been assigned his team. General Ironwood.

"What happened?" Blake asked confused. "Where am I? Where's Coal?"

"In order, you and Coal were tranquilized in order to bring you both here, my airship." Ironwood informed as he opened the door. "Coal is this way." Ironwood said as he lead the Faunus down the corridor and into another room. Blake grew confused as when they entered the small square room, Coal was nowhere to be seen. There was in fact a woman standing looking through a glass window with a bright clear light shining through illuminating her face which held a very concerned and worried expression. Blake assumed that from her appearance and how much she resembled an older, more mature version of Weiss that the woman was possibly the twin's older sister Winter. Ironwood stepped up to the window, standing alongside Winter and looked through with a neutral face saying nothing. His action prompted Blake to do the same as she stepped up beside him and also looked through the window, audibly gasping at the sight.

"They just started." Ironwood stated in a neutral tone, his eyes not leaving their place, he rather he watch through the window than address the girl further.

"What are they doing?" Blake questioned in utter shock as she watched on in horror as a team of surgeons set to work. Lying face down on an operating table, his face sticking through a gap and out of view of the Fauns, was Coal completely naked and hooked up to many different monitors which indicated many different numbers and bodily conditions. The surgeons, decked out in light blue hospital scrubs, faces covered by masks, started cutting into his upper back, where his mark was located.

"They are opening him up, to remove the dust." Ironwood stated in a neutral tone once more, showing no emotion towards the situation, more to convince himself than others, as he recalled the conversation he had moments ago with the boy who had awoken from his knocked-out state earlier than planned.

* * *

"What the fuck Ironarse!" Coal said as he reared back a fist and socked the general square in the jaw. Ironwood just took the punch and kept his composure as best he could as the enraged teen went to punch him again. "This is not your decision to make! Why did you tell Winter, why did you get her involved!" Coal shouted as he punched the General again.

"I'm not giving you a choice anymore Executioner." Ironwood stated in a hollow tone. He was then cut off from speaking any further by his subordinate, Winter Schnee.

"Valiant please." She begged her younger brother to calm down. "I won't let you throw your life away, you need this operation soon before it becomes too late!" Coal held his fist back, desperately wanting to punch his superior some more for not only being knocked out in the one way that left him with the worst hangover that he could physically remember, but for also telling his older sister about his condition and for interrupting his time with the Faunus. The last part pissed him off the most as he realised that the General was being a massive cock block at the moment.

"Fine." Coal said as he lowered his fist and looked towards his older sister. "But only because you asked nicely Frostbite…" He whimpered more than said as he fell to his knees in defeat. He just couldn't disobey his sister when she asked something of him. His breathing quickened and the very thought of what he was about to undergo sunk in. The feeling that everything might just stop right here and end when he had so many regrets, so many questions and more than anything else, a chance with Blake.

"Hey, you'll be fine." Winter assured as she crouched down and wrapped her younger brother in a caring hug, which he returned.

"Frostbite…" Coal whimpered burying his head into his sisters shoulders forcing himself to not show any fear. "I'm sorry for being so difficult…"

"Hey, hey…" Winter shushed. "Don't start saying sorry now."

"Do me a favour."

"Sure, anything."

"If the worst happens…"

"That won't happen." Winter argued back with more force than she meant.

"If the worst happens, make sure Weiss is okay. Don't leave her alone. Not after last time." Coal begged.

"Of course."

"And another thing… Tell Blake that I might be a little, or a lot, late."

"Late for what exactly?" Winter questioned though she didn't exactly know who this Blake person was.

"She'll know what it means." Coal muttered. Winter felt him shaking uncontrollably as she lifted them both from the ground and walked him towards the door and towards what could be his final moments. Coal stopped him and his sister in the doorway as he took a final glance back at the General and muttered just loud enough for the old man to hear.

"Hey Ironar… Ironwood. Thanks for… Thanks for everything you've done for me, and my sisters." Coal said in a soft and quiet voice as he forced himself to not back out of his sister's request. Tightening his fist so that his nails dug into his palm, drawing a small trickle of blood. He cast one final look back at the General and recalled the memories that he had shared with his old mentor. "Thank you… Dad."


	26. Chapter 26

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

Sup guys and gals, sorry for the late update but it's been a pretty hectic week for me. It's a shorter chap this time round as well just because time has been very short for me so for that I do apologise. Plus, I really don't want to rewrite a lot of scenes that are basically word for word repeats of the cannon. Coal may make a few things different but not much as he is only one human.

Yeah, I know been a long while since I've actually wrote and AN but I think I have to own up to a few things…

Firstly… Coal and his operation. Now I know a lot of you probably just expect me to let him survive and that there is almost no chance of me killing him but that is not entirely true. When planning I made 4 different plans. One of which where I do actually kill him. Thus, that is how I got to his 24% survival rate. Those numbers were real and the only reason I used this story was because I up it down to a roll of a dice having been unable to decide on a plan myself and I still do not have a beta reader to bounce ideas off. so the dying arc had a 25% chance of coming up seeing as I used a 4 sided dice (yes they exist look it up).

Secondly… Orchid. Now the Orchid hate from you lot has been unbelievable. I mean shit guys, all she wants is a baby in her! HAHA. Kidding aside, am I going too far with some things or am I not going far enough? I mean, where is the line with you guys? Though after the shit I put Coal through I'm already way over some lines…

Thirdly… Coal, Crimson, Wrythe and Cobalt. Now as you all have read, Coal is fucked up in the head. But I think I need to explain this further and it's easier to do it here than in the chapters. Coal's soul is fractured. Like for reals. When watching vol 4 and Qrow is talking about how the forces of darkness and light come together to make humans, I got the idea from that. A persons soul has both light and darkness melded together so what if those parts were ripped apart? That is what Coal is. He is the fractured parts of those light and dark sides. The darkness being Crimson and Cobalt and the light being Wrythe and Coal. now a bit more about the sides. While they do co-exist with each other they all have influence over the host body, referenced by the colour of their eyes and the format of the speech. Wrythe and Coal were the first split, split when the dust was first infused inside of him. The pain that it cause him split his aura and subconscious into two personalities which became his childish and hyperactive tendencies (Coal) and his more wise, and bespoke gentleman like side (Wrythe) which was cultivated by his father. Thus the reason for why he called Wrythe his worst side when he was trapped by Orchid. The dark sides of him are a little easier to understand. I've mentioned it a lot but Coal is in tune with the Grimm that he can summon due to the glyph in his back. His animalistic nature comes from those creatures and eventually formed into Crimson, the second subconscious voice and the third fractured piece. Crimson will only eat, sleep and can be very territorial yet will only kill when pushed to. Like any animal, he prefers the hunt to the kill and relishes in watching the live drain from his victims eyes. Cobalt, the last of the four fractures on the other hand, kills first and asks questions later. More like executes than kills. He is the part which has come around due to the life Coal had as a soldier. Trained to kill and not ask questions. Cobalt is also very tactical and plays the long con game well, a trait he gets from both ironwood and winter, but is very quick tempered. Thus the most dangerous of the four fractures.

Lastly. I'm going to update this fic at least every two weeks. The reason for this is because my time right now is really short so if you all can respect that then I'd love ya all to bits!

Understand all that?

Fuck it, story time…

* * *

Chapter 26: Calm before the Storm

38 hours

That was the current length of time that Coal had been in surgery. 38 hours since Blake had first seen him lying motionless on that metal table as a team of hospital butchers cut into his skin and dug deep into his body in means of curing him from his plague. Blake wasn't able to stomach the sight for long before she needed to escape from that observation room. She couldn't watch as the person that she had just admitted to herself that she potentially had feeling for was cut open and reassembled. Once again, she had to run away.

Her semblance, shadow, enabled her to do exactly that. Run from anything and leave a lifeless clone to take her place as she escaped into the shadows. Even when someone that she cared about was doing something that had such a high chance of killing him… She couldn't even bring herself to stay by his side. Blake had quickly returned to beacon to find some sort of comfort from her friends and teammates. Yet, as she walked through the door and into her dorm room, she instantly buried her emotions and forced herself to keep quiet. Coal had requested that she not tell his twin about his operation, his sickness… His limited time. Having had the time to think about everything, she realised that he had more of begged her to not reveal his secret than having asked her. She couldn't betray the trust that he had shown her. Not now when something was potentially brewing between them.

After assuring her teammates that she was perfectly alright and that Coal was spending some time with the General to keep away from Orchid, which wasn't entirely a lie, Blake retreated to bed as the following day she and the rest of her team were going on their unofficial mission to bring down the White Fang.

Currently, Blake was sat staring emotionlessly as professor Port rambled on about some odd story about his youth, paying no attention to what he was saying. Her head was filled with thoughts and doubts about Coal and his condition. Was he okay? Had anything gone wrong? when was he going to get out of surgery? Nothing could distract her form those questions. Not even Jaune.

"So Weiss." Jaune said leaning closer to the Schnee girl. "You know uh, I was thinking that after this, maybe we could go grab a bite to eat?"

Silence. Weiss seemed to have completely ignored Jaune and continued to stare at the clock as she waited for the final minute for class to be over.

Blake tuned out the rest of Jaune's attempted to woo the Schnee as she once again found herself worrying over the condition of her human. Well not exactly _her_ human but well her maybe or maybe not human… They never did get to go on that date and find out exactly what was between them. Would they get that chance back?

"Ooh em… Timed that one wrong I guess." Port announced as the final bell rang, interrupting his exciting tale and breaking Blake from her thoughts. "Well the stunning conclusion to the story will have to wait. Until next time."

The students all stood up to leave, Jaune turning to Weiss and asking as she walked behind him ahead of her teammates.

"Weiss, did you hear me?"

"No, no, no, yes." Wiess listed off as she shut down the blond and continued walking with purpose. Leaving a depressed Jaune who faceplanted the desk. The rest of RWBY walked passed him, yang reaching out and patting him on the head.

"One day." She assured hopefully wondering if her matchmaking skills could be used on those two as well as Blake and Coal. Blake was slightly envious towards the blond knight. At least he had some closure.

* * *

"I thought that class would never end." Blake muttered as she was now thankful for the distraction. She needed something take her mind of her doubts and a mission would do just that.

"Alright guys, today's the day. The investigation begins!" Ruby perked up from her top bunk.

"I'm glad to see were taking this so seriously." Weiss deadpanned from the bottom bunk.

"Hey we've got a plan" Yang defended. "That's… Moderately serious."

"Right. Everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked.

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies." Weiss confirmed. "Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." Weiss said confidently however, internally she was concerned with exactly what she could get access to after her… Eccentric departure.

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members." Blake said next. "If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

"I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on I Vale." Yang perked up last. "Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard."

"Junior by any chance?" Weiss asked tilting her head curiously towards the blond.

"Yeah… How did you know?" Yang asked folding her arms behind her head wondering why someone from the high class way of life would know such a person. Weiss pulled something out of her pocket and chucked it over to the blond.

"Just in case you need it as proof." Weiss stated as Yang eyed up small black box. "Can you collect Coal's package? Junior should have it by now."

"Yeah sure." Yang said as she tried to lift the lid off the box only to find it stuck tight.

"Don't try and open that please." Weiss instructed. "Coal uses that so its probably riged to explode or something if it's not opened with the right keys."

"Great!" Ruby chimed in trying to get her team back on track. "We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we've found. Let's do this!"

"Yeah!" Came a male voice from just outside the window. Team RWBY all snapped their gaze to the window to see Sun hanging upside down from his tail smiling at them having heard the whole plan.

"SUN!" Blake yelled startled by the Faunus' presence in such a weird place.

"How did you get up there?" Yang asked also startled.

"Ah its easy." Sun shrugged. "I do it all the time."

"You do WHAT?" Weiss yelled feeling very concerned.

"I climb trees all the time." Sun saved. Though Weiss did continue to glare at him, not entirely trusting the Faunus. Not because he was a Faunus, but because of how easily he was just hanging there, watching them… it almost seemed too natural. "So… are we going to get back at the Torchwich guy?" Sun asked wanting to know if he was going to get a chance to bash that man's skull in this time, seeing as how Coal wasn't around to get in his way.

"We are going to investigate the situation." Blake said, daring him to challenge her. "As a team."

"Sorry Sun." Ruby chipped in to agree with Blake. "We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

"Pfft that's dumb." Sun shrugged. "You should always get friends involved. That's why I brought Neptune." He said pointing out the window. Team RWBY all poked their heads outside to see Neptune standing on a very thing ledge just outside their window.

"Sup." Neptune said in a cool confident manor.

"How did you even get up there?" Ruby asked thinking that all boys were just weird for wanting to climb everything.

"I have my ways." Neptune said cryptically, shrugging it off as if it was nothing. "Seriously though can I come in? were like, really high up right now."

Moments later, both Sun and Neptune were standing alongside the girls of team RWBY going over the plan once more.

"All right. I'll go with Weiss. Sun, You can go with Blake. And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner." Ruby instructed as she forcefully pushed Neptune over towards her sister. "Everyone good?" No, not everyone was.

"Actually Ruby why don't you go with Yang?" Weiss said trying not to sound overly keen. "After all she is your sister."

"But Weiss who would go with you then?" Ruby asked before she looked around her room thinking that Coal would have popped out of nowhere like he was prone to do from time to time. Yet nothing happened.

"Well, I guess Neptune could come with me." Weiss said in a sort of, well if he must then I wouldn't exactly mind kind of tone. Ruby only laughed at the idea before she walked across to her partner and started to drag her way from the collar of her jacket.

"Nah." Ruby snickered further as she and Weiss disappeared down the hallway accompanied by the protests of the Schnee girl. From that day onward, Weiss would forever remember the moment when Ruby had just done the female equivalent of a cock block.

Yang rolled her eyes at the girls obviousness. She couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for Jaune seeing as he had no chance with Weiss whatso ever. She flicked her eyes over towards Blake having already prepped a teasing joke towards the Faunus, yet she said nothing as when she saw the look on Blake's face, Yang became incredibly concerned.

"Uhh, Blake?"

"Huh?" Blake jumped in place having been startled from her thoughts.

"Something wrong?"

"No. Everything is fine." Blake deadpanned before leaving with Sun in tow. Yang watched as her partner left with a quick pace. What was going on with Blake lately?

* * *

Later, Ruby and Weiss were walking through Vale up towards their destination.

"WOW!" Ruby awed looking up at the tower in front of them. "I forgot how big the transmit tower looks up close!"

"You should see the one in Atlas." Weiss said from alongside her partner, having gotten over the betrayal from earlier.

"That was the first one right?"

"Correct. Atlas developed the cross-continental transmit system to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another." Weiss informed. "It was their gift to the world after the great war."

"Ooo look at me, my name is Weiss, I know facts, I'm rich!" Ruby teased before stifling a laugh the best she could.

"Don't be a pest." Weiss said irritably. "Besides the only reason were here is because you like the tower so much. We could have just as easily made a call from the library. Or gotten Coal to hack a few files."

"I know but it's so cool! Oh, I'm going to take a picture!" Ruby stated as she pulled out her scroll. Fumbling with the device, Ruby dropped her scroll which landed at the feet of another girl. The girl picked up the device and held it at arm's length so that she could return it to its owner.

"I think you dropped this." Penny said, holding the device out for Ruby to take only for the scythe wielder to become confused at the sight of her friend's behaviour.

"Penny? Where have you been?" Ruby asked forgetting about her scroll for a moment. "We haven't seen you since the night at the docks."

"Sorry… I think your confused." Penny said awkwardly before releasing a hiccup and throwing the scroll back to Ruby. "OH, I've got to go." With that penny made a quick exit.

"What was that about?" Weiss questioned as her eyes followed the ginger haired girl as she ran off.

"I don't know… But I'm going to find out!" Ruby said as she went to follow Penny. "You go make your call, I'll meet up with you later!"

"Wait!" Weiss protested before Ruby dashed out of sight. Weiss huffed in annoyance before turning on her heel and walked up to the large tower to make her call. She was not looking forward to getting back in contact with her family's business but they could potentially find out a few things with the information that she could get.

As Weiss walked up to the sliding glass doors, she wondered how her twin was doing. She hadn't seen him in days and was starting to get worried over his wellbeing. Of course, she knew Orchid coming here would cause some problems but it also brought its benefits alongside it. She just needed to find a way of removing her entirely from the equation so that her twin could finally be free. But that could be dealt with at a later time. After all, someone in his condition didn't need to worry about marriage at this point in time.

It didn't take her long to reach where she needed to go. Weiss stepped into an elevator and waited for the doors to close.

" _Hello."_ Came an automated voice through he elevators intercom. " _Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?"_

"I'd like to go to the communications room please." Weiss asked politely to the static voice.

" _Absolutely. Could you please place you scroll on the terminal to verify your identity."_

Weiss did as the machine instructed and within a moment she was whisked upwards towards the communications room. Stepping out of the elevator, Weiss made her way over to the front desk where a hologram of a receptionist lit up behind the desk.

" _Welcome to the Beacon Cross-continental Transmit Centre. How may I help you?"_

"I need to make a call to Winter Schnee."

" _I'm sorry. Ms Schnee has been unavailable for the past two days."_

Weiss groaned for a moment before clearing her throat. "Sugar, November, Oscar, Whiskey." As soon as the last word was said, the hologram glitched out for a few moments before it reset.

" _Code confirmed. Could you please say your pass key?"_

"To forget means you need not forgive." Weiss said.

" _Pass Key confirmed. Welcome, Coal and Weiss Schnee. Terminal One is ready for you and the line has been distorted and secured."_

Weiss huffed at the hologram as she stepped around the desk and into a privet booth used for delicate business only. When she and Coal had spent some time together after one of his many Military trips, Weiss had been very unconvinced that Coal could do anything with computers let alone hack into one. To prove her wrong, he had not only hacking into the Atlas military database but he had also hacked into the CCT and created a privet network solely for their own purposes. Allowing them to make any calls to anyone regardless of clearance levels or whether the person was deemed as out of communication. It also served as a means of them to keep in close contact when Coal was out in the field and Weiss felt alone. He always made sure that they could contact each other regardless of the situation.

As soon as she sat down, Weiss saw her older sisters face on the screen.

"Weiss. It is good to speak to you." Winter said in a hollow and quiet tone. She looked dreadful. Having not slept for a single second since her younger brother had gone into surgery almost two full days ago.

"Yes it is." Weiss replied in a hollow tone of her own, thankful to be away from the rest of her teammates so that they didn't have to see her upset. "How is he?"

"He's… Doing great…"

"Winter…"

"He is still in surgery." Winter informed sadly. "They had to slow down further after his heart rate and blood pressure dropped again." Weiss nodded in understanding before speaking again.

"What does Lucian say?"

"He said that he is not sure anymore…" Silence rang after Winter spoke those words as Weiss tried to accept the reality of the situation. "Don't be angry with him Weiss… He wanted to tell you…"

"But he didn't!" Weiss said with more anger than she meant. Releasing a heavy sigh, she quickly assured her sister. "I knew he wouldn't tell me personally…"

"Like you aren't keeping secrets from him either." Winter joked trying to lighten the atmosphere. It seemed to work as Weiss let out a small chuckle at the statement.

"True, very true… It still should have come from him rather than you, no offence."

"None taken dear sister." Winter smiled. "But don't thank me at all for this, I'm the one who put him on that table. If he dies, that is on me."

"No… It's on father."

…

"Regardless, here are the files you need." Winter said as a few files came up on the terminal screen in front of Weiss. "Not only did Coal manage to get every single bit of trade history and dust theft the Schnee company has ever had, but he also confirmed that the Octavian's have no connection to the White Fang."

"Where did he learn to do stuff like this?" Weiss said as she looked over the vast amount of data in front of her. there was way more here than she ever could have gotten a hold of herself. Because she was looking over the data she never saw her sister's eyes narrow in disgust.

"Ruin…"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. You shouldn't have much problem on your end."

"What are you going to do?"

"Oh, not much… Just completely ruin a few criminal organisations that we have our eyes set on."

"And Coal?" Weiss asked hopefully. Winter grew a mischievous smirk as she answered her younger sibling.

"How much do you know about escape plan forty-eight?" Winter asked. Weiss mirrored her sister grin as she answered.

"It was my idea to begin with Winter."

"I should have known…" Winter hummed rolling her eyes. "No wonder it's taken this long to complete it."

"HEY! I take offence to that, why do you think I asked you to bring Orchid here in the first place."

"I know I know. To force him to actually face up to his problems." Winter sighed knowingly. "I just wish we knew about this stuff before we brought her here."

"Yeah…" Weiss agreed. "That dolt better survive this thing so I can kick his teeth in."

Winter hung up the call and looked back through the window where her younger brother was still being operated on. How could she have let this happen? Coal was her responsibility, he had been since he was born. Their father had never really cared for him other than when it came to his studies, grades and combat lessons, heck he forgotten the twin's birthday on more than one occasion. The more she thought about it, Winter figured that she was more of a parental figure to them both.

Minutes turned to hours as she watched without interruption, waiting for the surgeons to be finished slicing up her brother. The next shift change came around and as the doctors switched positions with the refreshed team, they all stopped for a moment and shot their eyes towards the unconscious boy on the table. Coals body started glowing a faint white aura. One of the doctors, Winter couldn't quite tell who, move over to the machine which monitored his wellbeing and saw that the boy's vital signs were still fine, in fact, they were higher than they had been in the last 38 hours.

A burst of white light blinded all the doctors in the room alongside Winter behind the glass who couldn't take her eyes off what was happening.

When her eyesight returned, Winter looked back to see her younger brother still lying on the table motionless. His heart rate and other bodily function appearing normal from the display on the many machines which surrounded him. But there was one more body in the room with the teams of surgeons. Standing alongside the doctors was a huge, frost white Beowolf with glowing, crimson red eyes.

Before anyone could mutter a whimper of fear at the beast's uncanny appearance, the monster dashed out the doorway and ran on all fours down the hallway looking for an exit. Winter stood still, motionless as she recalled the look in the monster's glowing red eyes. Just before it had dashed away, the Grimm cast her a quick sorrowful glance. Almost as if it was sorry for something.

Winter quickly ordered the team of surgeons to return to working on her younger brother before something worse happened before pulling out her scroll and barking down the speaker to the person who answered.

"Myth! We have a code RED."

* * *

A/N

What the fuck right? A second A/N? well heres the thing… I need to take a little break from writing. Im sorry to you all but I need a week or two for reasons I would rather not discuss with you all as it is very personal. Im sorry people but I hope to return stronger and blast out a new chapter for you all soon. Like I said in first A/N it might be about two weeks but if its longer then please don't hate me, I just got to take care of some things.

See you guys soon!


	27. Chapter 27

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

Hello one and all!

Yes, it has been a very long while since my last update but it is all now resolved and everything is under control.

First off, I'm not in the least bit sorry for leaving for so long. My sister had a bit of an issue with the birth of her child. Don't worry it's okay now and both mother and daughter are now home and causing trouble once more. I dont want to go into to much detail about that as it is still rather personal.

Some of you also took the time to send me a PM to see if i was okay. You all know who you are and i refuse to name names as this has been a bit of a personal issue for me and a trying time for me but i just wanted to thank those of you once more for some of the things that you all said which helped both me and my sis get through this.

Thank you!

That being said I have found the resolve to actually sit down and write this chapter even though it has been so long since my last update.

I hope you all enjoy the chapter and the continuous updates will resume shortly as they previously were… I just want to spend some time with my niece first :D

Chapter 27: Revival

(A week before Coal and Weiss arrived at Beacon)

 _Coal walked up to the water edge of the slow river and took a seat in the short grass next to his mentor. Ironwood had agreed to meet him on short notice after hearing about the dispute the boy had with his father about studying to become huntsmen and huntress with his twin sister. Ironwood sat holding a fishing pole lazily in one hand and in the other he help out a bottle of beer towards his apprentice._

" _How's the arm Runt?" Ironwood asked with a hint of concern detectable to the younger boy._

" _It's heeling." Coal informed smiling as he moved the fingers of his right hand that was tied up in a sling across his chest. He only received the wound a few days ago and was told that it would take a very long time to heal the amount of nerve damage he had received but he was already able to move his fingers slightly without any pain. "I've had worse."_

" _I know…" Ironwood agreed casting a look over the boy he had basically adopted nearly five years ago. the boy was already well on his way to becoming a man. He had been small as a young teenager and rather skinny and malnourished, but over the years he had developed into a strong and capable soldier… Something Ironwood was both thankful for and also regretted at the same time. "I'm sorry Coal."_

" _For what?" Coal asked tilting his head and taking the beer. "Did you fuck something up with that blond lady that works with the friend of yours in Vale?" Ironwood shot the boy a very dark glare getting a laugh in response. "Come on man, you are so into her I'm pretty sure you use some of the military's satellites just to get pics of her stepping out the shower."_

" _I would do no such thing." Ironwood stated truthfully, not that the idea hadn't crossed his mind once or thrice._

" _Keep telling yourself that and maybe one day someone will actually believe it." Coal laughed further having cornered his mentor. Ironwood tried to get back to the point that he was apologising for._

" _I mean, I am sorry for ever recruiting you into the military… And that squad." Coal stopped laughing and looked away from what he would secretly call his surrogate dad and pulled out a small cube like device, holding it in both hand he twisted it until the small device started to fold outwards and into a coal black mask etched with the roman numeral for 7 in a frost white. "I never should have gave you that mask."_

" _Probably would have been smarter to not bring a teenager into this mess…" Coal agreed. "But what's done is done. We both know that despite everything that has happened, what I've done, the people I've hurt and killed, I wouldn't change anything. You have no right to apologise for something that you cannot control." Coal said wisely. Ironwood looked over to the boy staring over the water as if waiting for something. Little did ironwood know, that in truth Coal was in fact waiting very patiently for something._

" _You've been speaking with Lucian again?" Ironwood asked with a smile knowing that the boy was finally somewhat human compared to the monster that he had found in the asylum._

" _Yeah…" Coal answered. "Without him and the rest of the ten… Nine Executioners, I don't know how I would have come this far. The nightmares are happening less and less and I'm starting to actually feel genuinely happy again… I think Weiss might be starting to realise that I'm just faking it half the time for her sake."_

" _She is your twin Coal, you can't hide everything from her forever."_

" _No but I can try." The boy and man laughed lightly. "Hey Ironwood?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _Why am I here?"_

" _Excuse me?"_

" _I mean, like, what is it that I'm looking for?" Coal asked confused by his own question. "I keep getting this feeling that there's something missing, I figured that spending time with Weiss would help me figure it out but I still have nothing."_

" _I don't know Coal…" Ironwood replied slightly confused also before coming up with a way to help the boy answer his own question. "Do you remember what I asked you that day we met?"_

" _Huh?"_

" _I asked you what is was that you truly wanted." Ironwood reminded Coal getting a hum in response when Coal actually recalled the memory. "You told me then that all you wanted to power to kill Adam… Well it's been almost five years. So Coal, what is it that you truly want now?"_

 _Coal took a moment to think about the question before answering his mentor and secretly self-proclaimed dad. "I want to forget about my pain, my sins, so that I can move on… I want to fill this empty void that has been created in my soul so that I can be whole again."_

" _And by that you mean?" Ironwood asked shocked by the boys deep words._

" _There is still a part of me that wants to reside in the rage and hatred I feel towards the world but now… after what I've experienced, I know that I can't keep going down that path unless I want to become the reason for my rage and see myself become Adam." Coal explained "I just don't know how I can run from that…"_

" _Maybe it's time to stop running?"_

" _Maybe…" Coal agreed half heartily. Ironwood reeled in his line and stood up to take his leave._

" _I've already made arrangements for you and your sister to attend Beacon, your flight leaves within a few days so be prepared." Ironwood sated as he ruffled the young boys hair. He hadn't made more than a few steps before Coal spoke once more._

" _There's one more thing…"_

 _Ironwood turned to see the boy smiling right at him. Ironwood felt a brief sense of nostalgia as he realised that history seemed to be repeating itself, only this time, Coal's smile wasn't the dark and malicious grin that he wore the day that Ironwood had found him. Rather, Coal's smile was one filled with happiness and hope._

" _We want to be free."_

Grunting Coal slowly opened his eyes adjusting to the light of the room that he was in. not recognising the place, he made to sit up from his prone position on the unknown bed that he was lying in but was quickly forced back down into the pillows.

"Keep still Frosty." Weiss instructed. "You'll pull out your IV drips." She tried to force him to lie down but typically of her twin he forced himself into a sitting position and pulled the breathing mask from his face so that he could talk to his sister.

"Worst hangover ever…" Coal groaned holding his sore head. "How long have I been out anyway?"

"You came out of surgery only an hour ago." Weiss informed rather surprised by the fact that her twin was already awake and trying to move around. "How do you feel?"

"Crappy, hungover… violated."

"So pretty much no different to any other Monday after seeing Orchid." Weiss giggled jumping up and throwing her arms around her twin in a bone crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Coal grunted from the sharp pain coursing though his back from the contact but put on a smile through the pain for his sister's sake and hugged her back.

"Me too Snow Angel… Me too." Coal said burring his head into his sister's hair, a few shallow sobs escaping him. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Weiss assured in a quiet whisper. "I never expected you to tell me anyway. It still pissed me off that you kept it a secret but I can understand why."

"No Weiss… I mean I'm sorry."

"What are you… HAVE YOU FARTED?"

"yep." Coal giggled not releasing his sister and keeping her within the vicinity of the horrible smell.

"YOU JACKASS!" Weiss yelled trying to back away yet unable to supress the smile that overshadowed her irritation. "That stinks, let me go!"

"But I wanted to give my baby sis a hug!" Coal said with fake hurt. "I'm never letting go!"

The twins continued to laugh and fight for the next few minutes. Weiss couldn't remember the last time they had felt so close. Something seemed different about her brother, it was as if he was not necessarily happier, but as if his happiness wasn't overshadowing a dark and twisted fear that she had come to recognise in the recent years. For that single moment, Weiss recalled memories of their childhood from before Coal recruitment in the military, before their kidnapping, before he was infused with dust. From a time where neither twin needed to worry about their health or responsibilities. When both their smiles were real.

Separating after a long while, Coal look his sister in the eyes and lowered his head apologetically. "I should have told you… I know I should have but I just couldn't. I'm sorry Weiss."

"You're not the only one who needs to apologise for something Coal." Weiss said lowing her head also. "I've been keeping secrets from you too."

The silence that followed was soon broken by another round of laughter from both twins. Though they knew that the other was genuinely sorry, they both couldn't help but laugh at how in sync they could be without even trying.

"I swear we do this far too often." Weiss laughed.

"I know, so who goes first this time?" Coal asked laughing also.

"Well I went first last time so now it's your turn."

"No, no… I went first last time!" Coal argued.

"No you did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"DID!"

"NOT!"

They butted heads glaring at one another, adamant that the other was wrong. a routine they had done since they were only small children. This was not the first instance where Coal and Weiss had kept secrets from each other or had told countless lies. After finding that they would usually commit such offences at the same time, for some odd reason that they put down to being twins, they had come up with a means of giving the other a chance to explain themselves to one another, forgive one another, implement some form of fine and then forget that anything ever happened and move on with their lives.

"You know what!" Coal said finally losing patience. "I'll just go first and get it over with."

"It's your turn to go first anyway." Weiss smirked knowing full well that really it should be her to go first instead.

"I'm sorry for lying, for not telling you about my health… I guess I thought that I was protecting you from it but I guess I was really only trying to save myself from the pain of telling you. You must understand that I really wanted to say something but I just couldn't bring myself to. We have finally found something worthwhile here at Beacon and I guess I didn't want anything to change." Coal said with an apologetic smile.

"Your forgiven. To be honest I've known from the beginning that you weren't in the best condition."

"How?"

"Ironwood."

"That fucking little son of a…"

"Don't hate him too much Coal, you know he only wants the best for you." Weiss said getting a half-arsed groan in acceptance from her twin. "I forgive you Frosty but on one condition…"

"You can have all my helpings of ice-cream while I'm stuck in this place."

"YES!" Weiss cheered before taking her turn to start smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry for going behind your back and bringing Orchid here. I know you want nothing to do with her and that bringing her here now was by far one of the worst ideas I've ever had but I did have my reasons."

Coal just stared at his twin gaping like a fist for a few moments before finally finding his voice.

"Why, the fuck, would you bring that bitch here?" Coal yelled sharply causing Weiss to look away slightly ashamed. She had expected him to react far worse but that still didn't take away the hurt from his voice. "You know how much I hate her."

"I know you do and I'm sorry for putting you in that position I really am… But can you honestly just expect me to sit on the side-lines watching you and Blake get closer and closer knowing full well that she would show up at some point or another."

"Weiss there is nothing going on between…"

"Coal just admit it already." Weiss nearly screamed but found the resolve to keep her voice down. "You like her."

"Of course, I like her, she is my friend."

"I mean more than just a friend." Weiss said narrowing her eyes at her twin. "Face the facts Coal, you find her attractive."

"Well I'm not going to deny that she's pretty."

"Coal…"

"Fine she's super-hot, what of it?"

"You go out your way to make time for her."

"I like having he company while fishing…"

"Coal…"

"What do you want me to say Weiss?" Coal asked starting to feel very defensive. "That I've fallen head over heels for her or that she completes me or something to that extent? This isn't one of your crappy romance films."

"Are you sure about that?" Weiss smirked an evil grin. "She told me what happened on your mission."

"She… She told you about that?"

"Oh yeah." Weiss continued smirking. "She told me how you couldn't keep your eyes off her the entire time and that you asked her out on a date."

"Only because she called it one!"

"Did you deny it though?"

"…"

"That's what I thought." Weiss said victoriously having backed him into a verbal corner. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. Probably get something to eat I'm starving." Coal shrugged patting his growling stomach.

"NO! You're going to man the fuck up and take her on this date or… I'll tell Winter you got a girlfriend."

"Weiss, we didn't even go on the date let alone her becoming my girlfriend."

"Do you think Winter will care either way?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. "You know how she will react."

"You're not giving me a choice here, are you?" Coal sighed wondering which demon possessed his sister recently.

"Do I ever." Weiss grinned. "Face it Coal, you do like her."

"How did your apology turn into you forcing me to verbally admit my feelings towards Blake?"

"Just answer the damn question Coal."

"Alright fine!" Coal grunted taking a deep breath. "I may have recently discovered that I may possess the emotional capacity to have a slight romantic interest in Blake."

"There, was that so hard?" Weiss asked smiling in victory but also slightly miffed that her twin had been rather specific with his words so that she couldn't twist them into something else.

"Well since you're asking, Blake has had that effect from time to time." Coal said looking down at his crotch.

"Okay first, eww. Second, I did not need that mental image. And thirdly, just eww."

"You asked." Coal snickered before lifting his knees up to his chest and resting his head upon them. "How did this happen? I mean, I tried to kill her when we first met, wanted to manipulate her into leading me to Adam, found some form of bond due to our dark pasts… Then next thing I know we are sitting down on the docks mindlessly chatting over nothing and you know the weirdest part… I'm actually having fun! FUN! How does that make any logical sense!"

"Logic doesn't explain everything Coal. Though now that you say it like that it does sound slightly 'Romeo and Juliet'-ish." Weiss said with a soft smile at how her twin seemed so confused over the whole ordeal. "No matter how hard you try, you can't explain such a complex emotion such as lo…"

"Don't say that word." Coal interrupted his sister quickly.

"Seriously Coal, just admit it already."

"I'd rather admit it myself then have someone else tell me how I feel." Coal said quietly into his knees. His voice may have been quiet but Weiss had still heard him. "Shit I did not just say something that cheesy, did I?" Coal exclaimed after a few moments to process the words that left his mouth.

"I see your training has paid off." Weiss grinned evilly.

"What training?"

"Did you really think we started film night just to watch crappy films?" Weiss giggled. "You may have protested at first but you came to love those old romantic dramas. Looks like you actually picked up a thing or two. That and, going back to my apology here, Blake needed the push too and by bring Orchid here, she became jealous just like I planned."

"You scheming little…" Coal mumbled. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Since I caught you and Blake at the docks that first time." Weiss smirked. "Honestly Coal, you were so cute when you told her to sit with you."

"Screw you baby sis!" Coal spat through a hysterical laugh, he should have known his sister was up to something. "But what about Orchid? You obviously didn't think of…"

"Oh, we may have faked your death slightly with this whole operation thing and now she's returned home with Winter as an escort to make sure she gets far away from you." Weiss smiled innocently.

"You faked my death?"

"Yes, I did."

"For fuck sake not again…" Coal sighed into his hand.

"What's your problem, it worked this time didn't it!"

"Yeah, forty-eighth time is the charm I guess." Coal laughed shaking his head. His twin had gone all out this time. "I really should reconsider my position as the tactical schemer out of us both."

"Oh, please Coal, you do not want to know how many plans for you and Blake that I have locked away in this beautiful brain of mine." Weiss said. "The difficult part was getting you to ask her out in the first place. I knew I needed to get you two alone somehow but I just couldn't think of anything until Orchid eventually showed up. all I needed to do was leave a small trail of bread crumbs to make you think that she was somehow trading weapons to the White Fang. Then knowing you, you would want to get Blake away from the thing that made her act weird and then just wait patiently."

"Am I really that predictable?"

"Coal I'm your twin sister. I should know you well enough to know how you will act in certain situations."

"I'm still not hearing that apology…"

"I just did you a favour and helped you ask out a girl you like, while also getting rid of that bitch of a fiancée." Weiss smirked and getting a rather disapproving glare from her twin. "Just promise me one thing Coal." Weiss said getting her twins full attention. "Just make sure you do right by her. You've always been that, one and done, kind of guy and I really don't want you to mess this up."

"Weiss, I asked her on one date just to see if there is actually something between us."

"Still though…"

"Stop planning my wedding and how many kids I'm going to have."

"I was thinking no such thing!" Weiss said not very convincingly.

"I'm suddenly very worried for my balls." Coal groaned sounding very irritated at how his sister was planning his entire life.

"I want to be an aunt at some point in my life Coal!" Weiss yelled getting frustrated at her twin's attitude.

"Then go badger Winter or Whitley!" Coal yelled back.

"I just want you to be happy!" Weiss screamed at the top of her lungs. "That's all I ever wanted... Ever since that day we were kidnapped you haven't been the same. You think I don't see through those fake smiles Coal? How stupid do you think I am! You promised me you would always come home but you know what… I still feel like I'm waiting for you to keep that promise. We never even talk about what happened that day because your still to afraid to move past it! as if accepting it and moving on is going to change who you are!" Weiss got up from her chair and reached into a bag that had been sitting on the floor beside her and threw a six pack of beer at her twin. "Here, Ruin left these for you. Go and drink away your problems like usual." With her piece said, Weiss stormed out of the room only stopping to hold the door before it slammed behind her. "For what it's worth, I'm glad your cured."

With the door softly closing behind his sister Coal looked at the cans of beer in his lap, desperate to take a drink he pried one out of the rings and made to pull the tab from the can. Instead of opening the beverage, he threw it across the room exploding on impact and leaving a dirty stain on the white walls of his hospital room. He needed to be better than this. Wasn't that the reason why he took upon a new name and identity. This was not how he wanted things to go.

Getting frustrated that he had just let his sister run off before he could say anything further he pulled out his IVs and swung his legs out of the bed and ran after his sister.

"WEISS!" Coal called out just as he saw his sister disappear behind the closing doors of the elevator. He knew his sister would be heading to the bottom floor to leave the hospital so turning towards the window he closed his eyes and channelled what aura he could manifest into his right arm, more specifically his shoulder.

A small tattoo like glyph started glowing a burning crimson red as his frost white aura took shape around the entirety of his right arm, shaping itself into a frost white clawed arm of an alpha beowolf.

' _It doesn't hurt anymore…'_ Coal thought to himself examining the new arm for a second before taking the claw and slashing at a nearby window. ' _It feels, almost natural now.'_ He was about to jump out through the window before a hand rested upon his shoulder of his borrowed arm. Stopping in his tracks, Coal rounded to stare right in the face of his doctor who looked rather pissed off at seeing the boy wide awake and out of bed.

Weiss returned to her room furious. Not only had the mission gone completely sideways with the intervention of Roman and a mech suit but also, she was still pissed off at her twin for being such an idiot.

What right did he have to question her motives. What game him the right to be angry with her for trying to do him a favour. What right… who was she kidding, she deserved that kind of response. Coal really did hate Orchid and by bringing her here she had opened up a closed wound upon his heart that she thought Coal was long since over.

They had known Orchid for a very long time, since they were only 5 years old and back then, Orchid was still the same spoiled child that she was today. If not worse. It only took one instance for Coal to utterly hate the girl and that was when Orchid had bullied Weiss to the point that she ended up in tears over the fact that she was bound to a wheelchair 90% of the time. When Coal confronted the girl and told her to apologise to his sister, Orchid had tried to convince him to leave Weiss behind and only play with her and that having his wheelchair bound sister around would only be in the way. Coal was not pleased. Filled with rage, Coal launched insult after insult at the girl and made her cry. Then kept the insults flying until she could only collapse down to the floor, completely and utterly mentally broken. But that still didn't stop Coal as he continued to whisper into her ear, punishment after punishment, describing in great detail for a five-year-old what he would do to her if she ever tried to hurt his sister again. though he never would dare lay a hand on a girl, he had verbally abused the girl enough to shut her up completely. For a good two weeks, Orchid never said a single word to anyone about what Coal had said to her that day. But whatever it was that Coal had said, caused the girl to become obsessed with him. Coal himself had received a 'good talking to' from his father and his father's belt for verbally abusing the girl, but that still didn't stop the hate that boiled in him every single time he saw the girl. That and in recent days, the obsession she had with him had scared him to the point of running away. Just like how he handled all his other problems.

Weiss collapsed onto her bed exhausted from the events of the day as she thought about the memories of herself and Coal. only able to pull memories of him looking out for her, watching over her, standing up for her… not once could she remember going above and beyond for him. Not because she hadn't tried, but because Coal never let her. He had always done the same thing, give up his own happiness for her own without her consent. At first, she enjoyed the attention but now that they were much older and Weiss was able to fend for herself, she came to hate it. he was always getting hurt for one reason for another because of the simple reason that he put everyone above himself… That thought alone infuriated her as she came to the assumption that Coal simply did not care about himself at all. That he was willing and ready to give his own life and not worry about the people he left behind.

A soft knock came at her bedroom door and being the first to return to Beacon ahead of the rest of her team Weiss got up from her bed and walked over to the door, swinging it open furiously wondering who would be knocking at such a late hour.

"Do you have any idea what time it… Oh Professor Ozpin."

"I see that you are the first to return." Ozpin smirked from the open doorway. "Might I come in?"

"Err… sure." Weiss said uneasily confused by the professor's appearance. "Is there something you need?"

"Yes, actually there is." Ozpin said taking the seat at the lone desk in the corner of the room and swivelling around to face the girl. "It's about that brother of yours."

"What's he done now?"

"Nothing wrong I assure you I just wanted to pick your brain on a few things is all."

"Well I'm not sure how much help I'll be…" Weiss said honestly taking a seat back on her bed. "I feel like I hardly know him myself these days."

"Oh, and what exactly do you mean by that?"

"He acts like Coal but he… He's not Coal at the same time. It's hard to explain."

"Due to his MPD?"

"Multiple personality disorder? Yeah probably…"

"When was he diagnosed?"

"When we were five… there was an instance with Orchid and after some doctors examined him, they came to the conclusion that he suffered from it." Weiss explained. "It's like he can just flip a switch and become a different person at will."

"and its infuriating?"

"I didn't really see it that much when we were younger so I really didn't think about it much, but now… Now I kind of understand what those doctors were saying back then." Weiss sighed. "Why the sudden interest in my brother?"

"Because I need to know if he is a threat to this academy, or an ally."

"Honestly Professor… I really don't know." Weiss sighed again. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Weiss seemed to have nothing more to say on the subject so Ozpin decided to say his own piece.

"You know what I think?" He said leaning forward and gaining the girls attention. "I think that despite his obvious flaws, Coal recognises that he has fallen too far into his own darkness and thus feels the need to hold onto another to stop himself from becoming completely consumed by his hatred and anger. I think that he sees you as his light at the end of the tunnel, his silver lining."

"Are you kidding… I don't mean anything to him anymore." Weiss said feeling slightly bummed out. "I mean, he couldn't even tell me that he was sick and here I am trying to help him out from the side-lines."

"By not telling him about bringing his ex-fiancée to my school and forcing him into getting a life-threatening operation?"

"Well when you say it like that…"

"Everyone is born with both light and dark attributes Ms. Schnee. The road that one choses to walk determines who they are. In my time as headmaster I've seen many students walk the halls of my school and if I've learned anything it is that twins are the most affected by this fact." Ozpin stated. "You see when twins are born they both lean towards one of the two attributes. I believe that Coal leaned towards the darkness while you took the light, balancing each other out."

"You hardly expect me to believe this, do you?" Weiss questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Your starting to sound just as crazy as Lucian."

"The boy's doctor?"

"Yes… Apparently Coal used to work on the same squad as him before he retired and became a doctor." Weiss informed getting an impassive look from the headmaster. Though Ozpin did take note of the newly acquired information. "He's not a bad guy or anything like that it's just… Well he's very weird. It's like he can look into your very soul through your eyes. Its creepy."

"Hmm I'll take your word on that." Ozpin hummed taking a quick sip of coffee. "Unfortunately, Weiss I do not have all the answers when it comes to your brother. In fact, he still remains a great mystery to me, hence why I've come to you, though if you can find in within yourself to even consider the possibility of what I said to be true… Then I think you will find it easier to understand your twin." With his piece said Ozpin stood from his seat and took his leave. Stopping for a brief second in the doorway to cast the young huntress a soft smile before leaving completely.

Weiss' teammates returned to their room soon after Ozpin left. After explaining why Ozpin was speaking to her, Weiss got changed for bed and settled herself into the covers and tried to sleep. After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, Weiss finally threw her sheets of her exhausted body and looked at the time. 03:27.

Weiss left her bed and walked out of her room and into her brothers unlocked room. Weiss sighed at the sight of what Orchid had done while she had been here. Everything had been painted purple and babyproofed beyond comprehension. Weiss was glad that the bitch was gone. She couldn't believe how easy it had been convincing the girl that her twin never survived the surgery. She almost felt sorry for the girl for when she would eventually realise that Coal was actually alive and well.

Weiss immediately went to the set or draws that sat by Coals bed and pulled out from it the photo album that she had let him hold onto for the time being and started to flick through the memories once more. The words Ozpin had used before rang in the back of her mind with each photo of their shared memories. What if he was right? Could it really be something so simple as them having such a polar difference because of the conditions of their birth? It did seem plausible… Coal was always a troubled person after all.

Stopping at the picture of them that they took recently after first rediscovering the album, Weiss look a long look into her twin's obsidian black eyes hoping to see some form of truth within them. Anything to prove that Ozpin was wrong in his statement that Coal embodied more darkness than he should. Yet, Weiss could only see the still image of her twin. Nothing more.

"If you concentrate that hard you'll get wrinkles."

Weiss jumped at the sound of her twin's voice from right beside her shoulder and turned to face him, snapping the book shut and placing a hand over her heart.

"Damn it Coal you scared me!" Weiss only half accused still remembering Ozpin's words. "What are you doing here you should be resting in hospital." She questioned pointing to his hospital robes. "Are you naked under there?"

"In order: I got bored and decided that I didn't need any more rest so decided to find you so I can apologise for being a bit of a dick… And yes."

Weiss eyes her brother sceptically for a second wondering just how honest his apology was. But all she saw in his eyes was the resolve to make things right. To be better.

Casting him a soft smile, Weiss crashed down on the now bright purple sheets of his bed and spoke softly to her older twin.

"You know, I really don't care anymore." Weiss said getting a worried look from her twin. "Not in a bad way Coal, but if I'm being honest, I'm the one that should be saying sorry. I've been holding onto this image of you from when we were kids and I guess that seeing who you are now… I just couldn't bring myself to accept it. I just, I just wanted my brother back. The brother that I knew."

"I'm sorry…" Coal muttered sitting down on the opposite side of the room to his twin. The moonlight pooled through the slit in the blinds, casting a line in between the twins as if to emphasise the barrier that had been built over the years. "But I just don't know how I can be that person anymore Weiss. I'm older now and I guess… I guess that I've changed for the worse."

"You're not the only one who's changed Coal." Weiss said immediately after her twin. "I've changed as well and honestly I'm not sure if it's for better or worse but I guess I just need to take a look at myself and see how I want to change next."

"Your fine the way you are Weiss." Coal said. "Your right pretty much all the time and you always look out for me even if I don't ask you too… Especially with this thing with Blake."

"So, you're finally admitting to it." Weiss said with an evil smirk and getting an irritated glare from her twin. "Okay I'm sorry, I shouldn't act so smug when I'm right."

"And I shouldn't lose my temper over every little thing." Coal said smiling. "This has been a long time coming, hasn't it?"

"Us needing to have this talk?" Weiss giggled uncontrollable as Coal voiced exactly what she was thinking. "Yeah. We haven't exactly been completely honest with each other since that day, have we?" Weiss asked rhetorically referring to the day they were kidnapped.

"That's an understatement." Coal agreed. "So how do you wanna settle this? Our usual method kind back fired earlier."

"I don't know…" Weiss hummed leaning back on her twin's bed. "Grab our weapons and beat the living shit out each other until we feel better?"

"I haven't got any better ideas." Coal said standing up. "Please tell me you actually have my weapons."

"I think Blake is holding onto them for you but Yang did pick up your order from Junior." Weiss said mentally thanking Yang for remembering to collect Coal package from the shady man. "Though I don't understand what that box was for…"

"Oh, Junior and I go way back… He's basically my bitch." Coal said with a shrug. "That box just contained a little bit of clarification."

"Let me guess, classified?"

"Sorry Snow Angel." Coal smiled apologetically. "There are somethings that I just cannot tell you."

"I really don't think I'll ever get used to that part of your life." Weiss said standing up and following her twin out the room. "I am aloud to worry about you."

"I know you are." Coal said as they walked down the hallway towards the lockers where their gear was kept. "Just as I do for you."

Though things may be unstable between them for the moment. Coal and Weiss walked side by side towards the arena with the intent of beating the crap out of each other as a means of blowing off some steam. Perhaps with time, they would finally break down the wall that separated them both.

(Elsewhere)

Roman kicked over a box in frustration having been bested by children once more. He was completely furious about it. worse of all, Cinder had just informed him that he was to be taking orders from someone else from now on as he no longer could be trusted to operate on his own.

"Who does she think she is!" Roman yelled kicking another box. "This is my operation. I control the city, I have the people running scared! Not her!" He kicked a third box shattering the wooden container. He was about to continue his rather effective stress relief but was stopped in his tracks as he was suddenly overcame with fear. Roman felt the air grow colder with each passing second and finally looking around he noticed that a low hanging mist had formed over the floor of his warehouse. He had felt a similar aura of bloodlust somewhere before, from someone else that went by the name of executioner, but this was different… It was all fake. "Who's there!" He yelled looking round the room.

Finally spotting the source of his nightmare come reality, Roman pointed the end of his cane towards a figure in a black cloak and fired a single shot. Which phased through the figure as if they were only a ghost.

"That wasn't very nice." A soft feminine voice spoke from behind Roman, who spun on the spot and fired again. once more, the shot phased through the ghost. "So, this is your nightmare…" The voice spoke again. "Now where have I seen this before?"

"Where ever you are, show yourself!" Roman shouted firing shot after shot around him until he ran out of ammo.

"Aww… Did Cindy not tell you about me?" The voice giggled like and innocent little girl. "That is a shame since she told me that you have already come into contact with one of my old friends… Someone I'm just _dying_ to see again."

"What are you talking about?" Roman asked starting to become worried as a shiver ran up his spine. As if to be transmuted from the mist itself, Roman was suddenly standing before a small girl around about the same height as that little red scythe wielder that had ruined his plans earlier that night. The girl was covered head to foot in a torn black hooded cloak that cast a shadow over the girl's face… As well as the mask that hid underneath the hood.

"I'm looking for someone." The girl said calmly. "I'm told you know the most about his whereabouts."

"Who are you?"

The girl lowered her hood to show Roman the mask that hid her face as well as her short black hair. though her bright crimson red eyes were plainly visible through the slots in the mask, Roman's eyes were drawn to the frost white 'X' for the Roman numeral for 10 over the left eye of the mask.

"Just call me… Crimson." The girl said darkly raising her right arm to hold a claw like weapon up to the man's neck. "Now tell me where I can find Coal Valiant."


	28. Chapter 28

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

Good morrow all!

Well here it is, the long awaited first date chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Yeah i know im late once more so im sorry but things are still settling down and slowly becoming the norm. Dont worry, i will be updating this story when i can.

Lastly, while going over my draft for this arc of the story i started to wonder if i should do a prequel story about Coal's military days. Would any of you like that sort of thing or should i just keep to small flashbacks and minor hints?

You will be meeting some of his squad soon enough so dont think they are just mindless characters. Everyone has their purpose.

* * *

Chapter 28: First date

"Where is it, where is it?" Coal aggravatedly mumbled to himself as he searched high and low across his room. Dragging out another draw that he had already searched through countless times that morning, he couldn't help but think about what he had gotten himself into. Out of everything that he had been through, why now of all things was he nervous. Curse his sister.

"Coal did you find it?" Weiss asked from the other side of his room also searching through another draw. Coal huffed at his sister's frantic tone.

"Not yet, are you sure you left it in here?" Coal asked back.

"I'm positive."

"Well then where is it?" Coal huffed. "You know I'm really starting to get tired of you keeping your stuff in my room."

"Where else am I going to keep it?"

"I don't know, maybe if you ditched some of the thousand dresses you keep then maybe you'd have space for it!"

"BLASPHEMY!" Weiss screamed insulted.

"Well then where the heck did you leave it this…"

*BOOM*

"…Time. Daughter of a bastard Weiss… That came from JNPR's room." Coal groaned rubbing his eyes. He got up to check on the source of the blast only to find a very burnt and charred Jaune slumped on the corridor floor. "Well sorry about that J." Coal apologised stifling a laugh at his best friend's condition.

"What. Happened." Jaune chocked out in a daze.

"Weiss, for some reason I'm still working out, left her death ray in your room." Coal answered with an innocent shrug. Jaune looked up at his best friend with a dumbfounded expression.

"Why does your sister have a death ray?" Jaune asked standing up and dusting himself off. "And why does Pyrrha have it?"

"Do you NOT have a death ray?" Coal asked back looking rather shocked prompting Jaune to worry about the sanity of his best friend.

"Sorry Jaune." Weiss apologised again bounding up beside her twin with a satisfied grin. "I forgot I leant it to Pyrrha for the week… Though I did turn down the settings a fair bit."

"Good thing too." Coal said nodding towards his sister. "I got the designs from Ironwood and tweaked them slightly, some of the prototypes tended to level buildings on the lowest settings." Jaune couldn't take anymore and decided to head back into his room for a shower leaving the twins in the hallway. "Think he did something stupid again?" Coal asked Weiss quietly.

"Probably." Weiss shrugged. "I don't know what Pyrrha sees in him."

"That ass probably." Coal shrugged also. Weiss raised an eyebrow at her twin's statement. "What? I can appreciate good ass no matter where it's from."

"And why are you appreciating Jaune's ass?" A voice asked from down the hall. The twins looked to the source of the voice who just happened to be Blake.

"Well Jaune does have a good ass." Coal chucked as if it were obvious. "Not that its better than yours or anything…"

Blake raised an eyebrow as Weiss facepalmed.

"Not that I've been looking or anything…"

Blakes eyebrows went even higher, not believing a word of what they boys said.

"Okay so maybe I took a quick peek once or thrice…"

Weiss facepalmed harder.

"Which answer gets me in the least amount of trouble?" Coal asked sweating bullets. Though he did find a way to change the subject… Kind of. "Oh, Blake while you're here. Yes or no, does Jaune have the best arse out of our class?" Coal asked seriously.

"Yeah, I thought that went without saying." Blake shrugged going along with the human while Weiss just turned up her nose in disgust.

"I really don't see what's so great about it." Weiss scoffed.

"So you do sneak a peek at his ass!" Coal laughed getting a rather infuriated slap across the back of his head from his now crimson faced twin.

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" Blake asked changing the subject yet again. Coal smiled back at her, feeling his cheeks warm slightly at the Faunus' close proximity.

"Err… Y-Yeah we are." Coal stuttered pulling at the collar of his shirt. When did it get so warm? Weiss felt a little out of place but couldn't bring herself to leave. She enjoyed her twins discomfort far too much. Blakes grin widened, it was barely noticeable but Coal was already used to Blake and her very limited emotional displays. He had worked with worse after all.

"Good. Because you already stood me up once." Blake teased.

"That was out of my control and you know it." Coal smiled back jokingly. He loved seeing her smile.

"I know." Blake said rolling her eyes. "A tranquiliser to my but kinda implies it. Who the hell even thinks to do something like that?"

"You get used to it." Coal shrugged getting a raised eyebrow from both girls. "Honestly you do… Myth and I don't really get along much so just be thankful that it wasn't a bullet this time."

"Should we ask?" Weiss questioned slightly concerned whether or not her twin was joking or not. Sometimes it was really hard to tell.

"Sorry, classified." Coal said to his twin, folding his arms and looking back towards the Faunus. "I'll knock on your door about an hour after class finishes okay."

"Sure." Blake hummed closing reaching up and speaking softly in his ear. "Don't even think about keeping me waiting again."

"Or else what?" Coal asked back in a low soft voice of his own.

"Hmm… Use your imagination."

"okay I've seen enough." Weiss interrupted walking away from the scene that emitted a vast amount of sexual tension. Not that Coal or Blake would admit to it though. Blake for one read too much smut and had very little privet time while Coal had repressed a lot of his own desires due to prolonged exposure to Orchid.

Coal and Blake separated when the door to Weiss' room slammed closed, muffling the cries of something about a mental image. Both teens broke out in fits of laughter.

"So easy." Coal said through his giggles.

"Far too easy." Blake agreed still laughing herself. "But seriously, if your late by even a second I will hurt you."

"Well I best not be late then." He smiled as Blake turned away and walked off, swaying her hips for added effect. Coal couldn't resist the temptation to let his own eyesight wander downward…

"Eyes up fluffles." Blake said without the need to turn around as she deliberately enticed the situation just to catch him off guard.

"I wasn't staring!" Coal defended, which was technically true as he did blink regularly while he was observing the view.

* * *

"Shit I'm going to be late." Coal yelled as he rifled through his wardrobe looking for the nice shirts Weiss had forced him to buy for this exact reason. Turns out, having some nicer clothes was beneficial. "Blake's gonna kill me!" He cried pulling out a dark navy shirt and throwing it over his head. He just had to take a nap after class and oversleep. He had less than 5 minutes until Blakes deadline and he was going to make sure that he made it.

Over next door, Blake was having problems of her own… or more specifically a collective of problems caused by a singularity. Yang.

"So, where you two going?" Yang asked for the third time. She had been desperate for some details and had been bugging her partner all day for anything and everything she could get. Not that Blake had said much.

"I told you already." Blake sighed taking another look in the mirror to make sure her appearance was satisfactory. "He's taking me to dinner to some place in the city, nothing to fancy, nothing too plain. That's all I know." Weiss pipped up from the desk where she was currently doing her homework.

"That sounds like him, he was never one for those high class, five star places." She shrugged taking a short break from her studying.

"That's good." Blake said somewhat happy that she wasn't going to something over classy. She wasn't one for the high-class life though she wouldn't turn down the opportunity to dine at such a place every once in a while. Though she would have to improve her wardrobe selection if they did ever have a second date and decide on one of those places.

"I don't get it though." Yang said folding her arms behind her head looking towards Weiss. "Don't you both come from like the richest of the rich or something?"

"Yeah but that doesn't mean we have to like it." Weiss stated. "I rather enjoy it myself."

"Figured."

"But Coal never did… The amount of money Father spent on trying to improve his etiquette to no avail could have powered a city for a whole year." Weiss summarised ignoring the intrusion of Yang. Blake was ready to prod the girl for more information about her twin but was unable to ask anything further as there was a quiet knock at the door.

Blake got up to open the door, at an alarmingly quick pace. Was she really that excited for tonight? This was just one date after all, all to see if there really was anything between them. She was still slightly in denial. Opening the door, Blake came face to face with a boy… But not Coal, Jaune was the one who had knocked.

"WEISSSSSSS!" Jaune sang as he strummed a guitar. Weiss immediately jumped from her seat and slammed the door in his face, hard.

"What?" She asked her teammates who were staring at her, all rather sorry for the poor knight and his now possibly broken self-confidence. Another soft knock sounded on the door only infuriating Weiss further. She grabbed the handle and swung the door open and immediately swung her leg forward catching the person right between the legs.

"Meep." Coal winced crashing to the ground and groaning in pain clutching his groin. Weiss immediately dropped to her knees and repeatedly apologised to her twin for such impulsive actions. While Coal recovered Yang took the time to quietly grieve for Blake.

"And there goes the possibility of children." Yang said half seriously and half giggling. Blake only rolled her eyes while she waited for Coal to get back up. the kick wasn't that hard after all, she herself had kicked harder with no serious problems.

After a few minutes, Coal was back on his feet still clutching his groin he glared at his twin and in a slightly higher pitch voice throttled his twin. "What the actual fuck Weiss! First you break Jaune's nose and now my balls. Why don't you just kill me and be done with it!"

"Already done that Frosty." Weiss joked getting an impartial groan from her twin. Weiss then turned to Blake and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, he's all yours. Just make sure he's back by eleven." Coal tried to protest that he 'could do what the fuck he wanted and that nothing controlled him' but was quickly put down by Blake who agreed to his twin's deadline and dragged him away by his arm. Somehow, he felt slightly less in control of the whole situation.

"So, what is the plan then?" Blake asked as they walked through the corridors of beacon. Blake didn't have a clue as to where Coal was leading her but she had faith that Coal knew what he was doing. He had even taken the time to done some nicer clothes, obviously ones his twin had picked out for him as Blake already knew of his lack of fashion sense. Coal was now dressed in a formal black dress shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans and black trainers. Blake could see signs that he had even tried to smarten his messy white hair to no avail… all in all she thought he was rather handsome even with the messy hair. "Where are you taking me?"

"There's this place I know on the outskirts of Vale, opposite side of the city from where we are now." Coal said smiling and looking over to his date for the evening. Blake had also changed clothes into something more appropriate. Now wearing a tight purple top beneath a cropped white leather jacket accompanied by a pair of black skin-tight jeans and heeled boots, Coal took a moment to take in the Faunus' appearance. Though he would be the first to admit that Blake was a rather beautiful girl, he admired how the clothes she wore helped emphasise her curves without the need to show too much skin. It was almost teasing.

Almost.

"You don't expect me to walk that whole way, do you?" Blake asked raising an eyebrow. Honestly did Coal have any idea who long that would take? Vale was a big city after all.

"Relax I never expected you to walk unless you wanted to." Coal said grinning over to the Faunus and leading them down another corridor. "I'm driving."

"In what car?" Blake asked him raising a second eyebrow. She had completely forgotten that he had mentioned that he could drive. "And do you even have a licence?"

"A very good fake." Coal laughed getting a disapproving look from his date. "That was a joke Kitten, I have a real licence."

"It wasn't a very good one." Blake deadpanned. "So, we are taking a car?"

"Who said anything about a car?" Coal smirked as he led Blake into a storage garage at the very corner of the school. "We are taking my bike." He stated walking through the assortment of vehicles and up to a jet-black motorcycle that Blake had no clue as to its make or model. Luckily for them, the person in charge of monitoring the vehicles walked up to them both.

"One Ducati Diavel… Damn kid how the hell did you get your hands on one of these?" The man asked eyeing the 1200cc monster. Coal thanked the man and took the keys without answering his question. The bike was actually a gift from his squad for his 16th birthday and having realised a love for the freedom of the open road, Coal loved every bit of power the bike had. Coal swung a leg over the body of the motorbike and held out a helmet for Blake. "I promise this won't hurt your ears." He said with a soft grin. "I had it made especially for them."

"You actually went that far?" Blake questioned disbelievingly looking over the helmet which had slots melded into the body for the comfort of her ears without damaging its effectiveness. "That couldn't have been cheap."

"Don't worry about it. It actually gave me a reason to spend all that money I saved away." Coal said with a simple shrug. "I'm not really one for spending abrupt amounts of money on menial things like Weiss, having a good reason to use it is a pleasant change."

"Still though…"

"Put it this way." Coal said placing his own helmet over his head. "None of our friends will be able to tail us the entire time we are out."

Blake couldn't find any problem with that logic. Slipping the helmet over her head she mounted the bike behind Coal and placed her hands on either side of his waist. "You aren't going to drive like an idiot right?" She asked just as Coal kicked the bike alive and revved the engine.

"What was that? I can't here you over the sound of the bike's awesomeness." Coal laughed before pulling the bike out the garage and into the courtyard. Passing the rest of their friend who seemed to be trying to hide around the many columns and benches in a bad attempt to follow the two speeding off. "Told you so."

"Okay fine you were right this one time!" Blake yelled over the roar of the bike. "Now SLOW DOWN!"

"Blake I'm doing the speed limit." Coal rolled his eyes and turned off the main road onto a road that followed the coast line. Downshifting and pulling back on the throttle to accelerating to adjust to the new and higher speed limit.

"SLOW DOWN!" Blake screamed burring her face into Coal's back as the bike tilted almost parallel with the ground rounding corner after corner at speeds that were far lower than Coal's usual comfortable pace. Blake still wasn't very fond of being on two wheels regardless of the speed. She wasn't scared of the bike or the speed, she just didn't like the idea of them having seen many fatalities that came from the machines and fast drivers.

When the road straightened out enough for Blake to not get dizzy from the constant side to side shifting of the bike she finally looked up to see Coal not looking at the road ahead of him, but instead taking a quick look towards the open ocean to view the coming sun set. Though it was still early evening, Blake knew that this was one of the best spots to view said sunset. She uncontrollably smirked at realising what Coal was up to and thought that the idea was rather sweet.

Blakes view was abruptly cut short as Coal turned off the road and onto a dirt track leading down towards the cliffs. Approaching the cliff face Blake started to make out the ruins of an old civilisation. But on closer inspection, Blake realised that within the historical ruins was a modernised village of its own. Hidden from the prying eyes of the world around it.

They must have been on the road for quite some time as Blakes legs felt numb when they finally pulled up in front of a small restaurant that seemed rather too busy for its size and location. Getting off the bike and handing her helmet to Coal, Blake looked around the area to see that the place where Coal had taken them too was rather small, almost like a small village on its own embedded into the side of the cliff, filled with small shops and far too much greenery from the trees growing from the side of the cliff hiding it further. The peaceful air and tranquillity of the place made it seem as though it should be a lot further from the city than they actually were.

"Where are we?" Blake ask admiring the peaceful atmosphere the area gave off.

"Still technically in Vale just on the very edge of its boundaries." Coal said dismounting the bike and taking of his own helmet. "Though this place may as well be a village in its own right."

"It's rather quaint." Blake mussed. "It kind of reminds me of home."

"Home? So you do have one of those." Coal laughed at his own joke. "All this time trying to get something out of you and finally we get somewhere."

"I figured you would have already known where I come from seeing as how you know so much about my past already." Blake said teased jokingly.

"I feel like I deserved that." Coal sighed. "Besides, you proved ages ago that you're not the person that I was lead to believe."

"I still can't get over the fact that we are actually going through with this…" Blake smiled rolling her eyes and linking her hand into Coal's as they started walking. "I'm going on a date with a human of all people."

"Problem with that?"

"Not at the moment."

Coal lead his date into the small establishment where they were both quickly seated. Blake took note at how some of the people around them seemed to know Coal to some degree as a few of them exchanged a quick hello with the soldier.

After ordering a round of drinks, none alcoholic specifically for Coal, Blake peered over her menu at the boy sitting opposite her narrowing her eyes slightly. For reasons she could not understand, Coal had a completely different air about him that she normally sensed. Normally Blake would naturally feel his aura pulsating around him ready for anything and everything but now he radiated almost nothing. It was slightly unnerving.

"You seem different." Blake said glancing back down at her menu

"How so?" Coal asked in return placing his own menu down having decided on a prime rump stake.

"You seem far calmer than usual." Blake shrugged. "Who are you and where is the real Coal?" Coal laughed at the girls joking tone.

"Oh he'll be running around somewhere or other…" Coal chuckled rubbing the back of his head. "But what makes you so sure that I'm not the real Coal?" He asked back in a half joking manner, not that Blake actually realised that the first part was actually rather accurate.

"Well for starters you actually look decently passable for once."

"Ouch…"

"You're not carrying any weapons for the first time since I've met you."

"That is more of a habit then a preference."

"And to top it all off… You don't seem like you're expecting the worst to happen at any given moment." Blake finished. "It's actually nice to see you so relaxed again."

"You make me sound like I'm all work and no play." Coal laughed. "I'm slightly offended."

"Well hopefully now you will take some more time off." Blake smiled. "Considering how long it took you to catch up on all the work you missed while in hospital."

"I cannot believe Oobleck has me doing third year work just because I got full marks on every one of his assignments a few weeks!" Coal groaned smacking his head down on the table.

"Nerd." Blake joked rolling her eyes at the over dramatic display.

"I wear that badge with honour!"

Having gotten themselves a rather hefty serving of the local verity of fish and talked aimlessly about their first semester at Beacon. Coal and Blake left the eatery and walked around the small area looking at some of the small relics of a once prosperous town. The small village had its own air about it which spoke history. Something that both teens found that they held a common interest in as they walked and climbed among some of the old ruins.

Having found a spot sat on top of a ruined watchtower, Coal and Blake sat facing the sunset shoulders touching in electrifying subtle contact.

"I don't get you Fluffles." Blake said nudging him in the shoulder grinning to herself. "You had everything. Big house, rich parents, more money than you can possibly imagine and a drop dead stunning fiancée. Yet here you are sitting on a broken old tower with a Faunus eating ice cream in a village that basically doesn't exist to the rest of the world far away from the rest of civilisation."

"So?"

"So…" Blake smiled rolling her eyes. "Care to explain your angle here?"

"What is there to explain?" Coal shrugged not really understanding what Blake was asking. "I'm not some puppet my father controls, I'm my own person… Somewhat. Though your scepticism is warranted."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Blake, we both know about what my father's company does to its Faunus workers." Coal said rather sorrowful. "I guess that kind of makes me wonder the same thing. Why would you be sitting up here with a human of all things, the one thing that has subjected you to immense discrimination?"

"I have absolutely no idea…" Blake hummed before leaning across and planning a quick kiss on Coal cheek. "Maybe it has something to do with that human being tolerable."

"Only tolerable?" Coal teased softly, leaning in closer to the Faunus. Blake gave into her own temptation and also closed in.

"Maybe slightly more that tolerable." She whispered breathing against the boy's lips, her own almost brushing his.

Just then Coal pulled away grinning mischievously.

"That's better." He grinned through a small victorious laugh. Blake stared at him wide eyed for a second confused by the action before realising that she had played right into his trap. Having been brought so close to kissing the boy, Blake was left desperately wanting more.

Rolling her eyes and casting her attention away from the grinning boy, Blake noticed that they weren't the only couple in the area at the time. Walking below them was another human and Faunus hand in hand and very intimate.

Coal noticed Blake looking at the couple below them and directed her attention to another Human and Faunus sitting on a bench watching the sunset also.

"Wait…" Blake voiced in a slightly shocked expression. "What am I looking at?"

"The world Kitten." Coal said. "This place is one of the few that I know of where Humans and Faunus live side by side in true harmony."

"I thought we were still in Vale." Blake stated grinning at the sight she had longed to see her whole life. "How did you find this place?"

"You can thank my squad for that." Coal said smiling. "Ruin was raised here. He brought me here a few times to bask in the tranquillity of the place. Now that I think about it, Ruin was probably the person I was closest too."

"Other than your sister." Blake question finally able to get some kind of background on the boy and his time with the military.

"Actually… Winter wasn't part of that squad." Coal informed. "She just tagged along from time to time to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid."

"Like destroying everything in your path." Blake laughed before looking back out towards the horizon and sighing happily. "I don't think I've ever seen a more peaceful place."

"Yeah… I guess I just wanted you to see it so that you know that the gap between humans and Faunus isn't as big as they make it seem... Maybe then, you'd know that there is at least one place in the world where you won't feel the need to hide."

Blake looked back into Coal's obsidian black eyes. she was taken back by how much affection came across in Coal's voice. He truly held a special place in his heart for this small, nameless, hidden village.

"Pfft you are so sentimental." Blake giggled uncontrollably.

"Only a little so don't get used to it." Coal laughed wrapping an arm around his date. Blake rested her head on his shoulder and watched as the last part of the sun disappeared over the horizon.

"And if I want to get used to it?"

"Then I will have to get used to it myself." Coal chuckled to himself getting another giggle from Blake.

"You know something." Blake said reaching up and taking off her bow and throwing the ribbon away. "I actually prefer the sun rise to the sun set."

"Whys that?"

"When the sun sets, darkness envelops the sky in a never ending void of blackness. But when it rises. It brings forth a new day and new hope that things will be better than the previous one."

"And you call me sentimental." Coal laughed. "as for me, I prefer the sun set. The challenges that the night brings are just that. A wall to climb to make it to the sunrise. that's what makes the sunrise more worthwhile… That and I like a good challenge."

* * *

Coal and Blake were walking back towards the boy's bike after spending a few more hours teasing one another over how cheesy and sentimental the other was. It was getting rather late by the time they mounted the bike and headed back towards Beacon. Having gotten over her initial nervousness about tonight, Blake seemed to relax more on the back of the bike, hugging onto Coal from behind, she couldn't help but looked out towards the shattered moon wondering how it ended up so broken.

Coal felt the Faunus' grip around his stomach tighten. Not knowing the reason why, he slowed down a little bit thinking that Blake was still uneasy about being on the back of the bike having already made the mental note to take the car next time they went on a date. Not that he was planning a second date or anything… But given the opportunity he would snatch up the chance in a heartbeat. Now dead sure about his feelings towards the Faunus, Coal would happily admit when asked that he did like Blake beyond the normal friendship boundaries. He wasn't quite sure if he loved her, being unexperienced in that realm he wasn't really sure what love felt like but he was pretty sure the potential was there and that it just needed to be discovered. But was Blake really the one he wanted to unlock that side of him.

Coal quickly summed up his inner thoughts about the girl sat behind him. Sure, when they met they were at each other's throats but now… That was kind of up in the air. Thinking about it only confused him more and when they eventually pulled into the garage back at Beacon, Coal asked himself one question.

What is it that he truly wanted?

Coal thought about the question all the way back towards the dorm rooms and finally when they stopped outside of Blakes room, Coal found his answer. Staring into the Faunus eyes he only wanted one thing. As it seemed, so did Blake.

As the gap between them inched closer and closer. Blake was adamant not to let Coal escape this time. She felt completely overwhelmed by the sudden rush of emotions and pounding of her heartbeat when she realised Coal had started to close the gap first. She felt herself being pulled closer as if she were a puppet on strings having no control of her actions as she stood up on her toes, placing a hand on his chest slowly drawing him closer. Until finally their lips met.

Upon contact Coal felt everything vanish underneath him, as if the world around him no longer existed and that only Blake and himself mattered. Snaking a hand to her waist, coal pressed their bodies together completely loosing himself in the kiss and only deepening it further.

The moment was broken when Blake pushed him away and held him at arm's length. Not because she was against what was happen, more like if she let it continue she would definitely be taking things far too quickly… Not that Blake minded but there were somethings that she just needed to be sure of before she took the next step.

"So… What does this make us?" Blake asked quietly, barely able to use her voice. Coal needed to shake himself from his daze before he could even register what Blake had said.

"Errr… I don't know." He said still flabbergasted. "I ventured into the realm of uncertainty ages ago."

"I realised." Blake giggled getting a smile from Coal in return. Both teens knew that they had gone passed the point of no return and both could still feel the effects of the electricity that had just passed and was still coursing through them. "At least we now know what this is…" Blake whispered leaning in once more.

"Yeah… We do." Coal whispered back cupping her chin ready to resume where they left off. unfortunate Blake kept just enough distance so that they didn't resume kissing, though she was beaming from ear to ear as she fluttered her eyes at him and whispered more.

"So, what are we?"

"Do I really need to say it?" Coal asked grinning also. For a long time, he and Blake had discovered that they very rarely needed to voice what they were feeling. When one felt down the other would know it, when the other was happy then the second was happy with them. Even their silences were filled with unspoken honesty. They both knew where they were heading, neither really needing to voice what the other was currently feeling. Something they had both started feeling since that first time down at the docks. Without uttering another word, the teens closed the gap once more locking into another passionate kiss. Wordlessly confirming exactly what they now were.

Boyfriend & Girlfriend.

* * *

At the end of the hallway, a girl concealed behind a black mask numbered with the number X (10) hid in the shadows watching the two teens make out, silently grinning to herself. Her crimson red eyes faded back into the shadows where she disappeared into the night, having found a nightmare to awaken within the boy... Just like 2 years ago, when he first met the girl and fell into another pit of despair.

Crimson would soon have her way...


	29. Chapter 29

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

Bit of a filler chapter really but I loved writing it. I like writing Coals kinder and more emotional side and this chapter was so much fun writing that it's become my favourite.

* * *

Chapter 29: IX - Angel

"Mr. Valiant!" Glynda screamed finally getting the attention of a daydreaming soldier. Coal jumped in his seat at hearing the shriek that came from his teacher. It had been a few weeks since he had been on a date with Blake and school was now pretty much back to normal. The only thing that had changed since his return, was himself. Coal had become increasingly distracted recently and it wasn't just his newly acquired girlfriend that was the cause of the distraction.

Coal had been searching within his own soul for the rest of his counterparts. Since his operation he had yet to hear a single word from either of them. Something that he had longed for, but now that he had finally acquired pure silence within his own mind. Though he wasn't concerned at all as to where they were as he already had a very good idea…

Other than his internal troubles, Coal had also been spending a lot more time with Blake. It was no secret between teams RWBY and JNPR that they were officially dating but the rest of the school hadn't figured it out yet. Why? They were very privet about their relationship. Both Blake and Coal kept the PDA to a minimum, only keeping up with the normal flirtatious quip every now and again. however, when no one else was around, things got steamy… Pretty damn quickly. Though Blake still respected Coals policy of no sex before marriage, she discovered that it was becoming very annoying to keep to that rule. Coal was also finding it difficult to keep to the policy as on more than one occasion, he wanted to give into temptation. Thankfully, his resolve was far greater.

"Mr. Valiant are you quite done staring into space?" Glynda asked tapping her foot impatiently.

"Nah, give me five more minutes." Coal shrugged with a yawn. "I was just about to fall asleep."

"Did you even pay attention to Ms. Nikos' match just now?" Glynda asked ready to give the boy detention for such immaturity.

"Yeah." Coal said sending a short wave to the spartan still down in the arena surrounded by the floored and exhausted team CRDL. "She kicked ass and I think she might have introduced Cardin to the world of fem dom." Coal said getting a few snickers from the rest of the class having also noticed the satisfied look on Cardin's face. "Might want to get the cleaners down there."

"Okay… That's enough of that!" Glynda groaned. "Stay back after class will you Mr. Valiant."

"Aww come on Barbie…"

"What did you just call me?"

"Nothing!"

"Would you like to demonstrate your abilities against Ms. Nikos for the class?" Glynda continued repositioning her glasses and glaring at the boy. "You haven't had an official spar against anyone since your release from hospital."

Coal and Pyrrha locked eyes for a second before both turning to face the professor once more.

"Actually, professor I'd rather not fight against Coal." Pyrrha said looking back towards her rival who nodded in agreement not wanting to fight against the spartan either.

"Yeah I'm with Pyrrha there." Coal smiled. "We've been waiting for a chance to settle the score and this tournament is the perfect chance to do so… So long as we both make it to the finals."

"Right now, our record is one, one." Pyrrha continued. "We agreed after the last match that the next win is final."

Glynda sighed knowing that neither teen would fight. They both had a high regard for one another and by the looks of it, wanted their skills to remain somewhat secret to hold an advantage should they fight in the tournament. Getting even more frustrated that Coal had once again slipped out of fighting, Glynda dismissed the final class of the day. After class, Coal stayed behind as requested and waited for the professor to start telling him off again. Coal had been given numerous detentions by the blond teacher, most of which he got himself into for not keeping his mouth shut, and was not in the least bit intimidated by the power-driven woman. Something Glynda hated as she could not control the boy beyond direct orders which if not given with specific detail, Coal would find some sort of loop hole to get out of completing said order. She had been warned about his utter disregard of authority but she had no idea that he could be so disrespectful. The only reason she did not push harder against him, was the fact that no matter what he did, he always produced good results. Only irritating her further as on paper he was the perfect student but in reality… He was a complete asshole.

* * *

"So, Blake." Yang asked as they left the hall. While Coal had swindled his way out of another match, again, Pyrrha was made to fight some kid named Mercury which turned out to be a pretty quick and uninteresting fight. "How are things with the new boyfriend?" Yang asked purposely slowing so that she could have a privet conversation with her partner.

"They are fine." Blake deadpanned, she wasn't one to broadcast her whole relationship. "Why?"

"Just because I noticed you sneaking out last night… Again." Yang said wiggling her eyebrows. "I know you have a spare key to his room."

"And what are you implying here?"

"I'm not implying anything. I was just wondering what you get up to."

"Nothing that you would think." Blake sighed slightly irritated, though her irritation wasn't directed towards her partner. "I'm trying to get rid of that stupid reflex."

"The one where he almost kills anyone who wakes him up?"

"Yeah that one…" Blake nodded. "It is getting better but…"

"Not as quickly as you'd like?" Yang offered completely stopping her and her partner. "need a hand?"

"I don't see how you could help." Blake said. "It's not like I'm getting anywhere…"

"Excuse me?"

Blake and Yang turned to their left to see a man roughly in his mid-twenties with short spiky brown hair walking towards them. The man was very tall standing at 6ft 5 and very slim, with a little stubble around his young-looking face. Dress rather casually in a red plaid shirt with a single black metal shoulder pad over his right shoulder engraved with a frost white roman numeral 5 (V) and beige shorts, the man waved politely to Blake and Yang, making eye contact with each girl with his own dark brown eyes before asking politely.

"Hi, I'm actually looking for someone and got a bit turned around… This place is rather big. Any of you lovely young ladies seen a boy around your age with white hair and a bit of an attitude problem?"

"Goes by the name of Coal by chance?" Yang ask sarcastically finally noticing that the man was bare footed. She thought it was weird how the man was walking around without any shoes against the rough cobblestone.

"Yes, that's the guy." The man laughed loudly pulling off his shoulder pad slash hipflask and taking a long drink. "Where can I find him?" Yang pointed over her shoulder with her thumb indicating he was still inside the arena getting another lecture. "Thanks a bunch… Angel! Let's go sweetie!" The man called out behind him replacing the shoulder pad on his right shoulder.

"Coming daddy!" yelled a small girl who skipped over to her adoptive father. Blake blinked at the sight of the small girl who could have been about 10 years old wearing a cream dress. Stitched into the skirt was a black roman numeral 'IX' (9). Her platinum blond hair tied up in a neat braid trailing behind her as she caught up to the man and gripped his hand looking up to him and pleading with her sky-blue eyes she asked her adoptive father. "Are we going to see uncle Coal now?"

The small girl never got an answer as at that moment Coal opened the doors and stormed out of the arena, fuming over receiving a 10-page essay on the importance of manors due in by next class as punishment. When a small bundle crashed into his legs and gripped tightly, his rage completely dissipated as he caught sight of the little girl burring her head into his stomach giggling hysterically.

"Angel?" Coal questioned not quite understanding why or how the girl was here. "Did ya miss me?"

The small girl, identified as Angel, tilted her head up so that she could show off her wide childish smile. Giggling for a short while she shook her head before answering. "No." Then buried her head back into the boy's stomach giggling hysterically once more.

"It's about time you showed up Runt!" The man said walking up to the younger boy.

"Ruin?" Coal smiled looking up at his old squad mate, clasping his hand and bumping shoulders over the small girl's head. "What brings you to this side of the world?"

"Do I need a reason to visit an old friend?" Ruin laughed seeing that his adoptive daughter was still giggling into the boy's stomach. "And Angel missed you."

"Did not!" Came the unconvincing muffled giggle from the girl.

"So that's your bird?" Ruin asked looking back over to the two girls he just spoke to and examined the hidden Faunus having found out about Coal's date through his own girlfriend who interrupted their first one…

"Cat actually." Coal corrected. "But yeah, who'd had thought it eh?"

"What? You breaking out of your shell or you actually managing to secure a relationship?"

"What do you mean break out of my shell?" Coal asked slightly offended.

"You were never very good around other people."

"Fuck you Ruin…"

"You said a no-no word!" Angel giggled prodding Coal in the stomach. "That's one strike."

"I know I'm sorry." Coal apologised to the small girl before turning back to his friend. "So, what's up Ruin, I know you're not here just to eye up my girlfriend."

"I need a favour…"

"Who are we tracking down?"

"Not that kind of favour!" Ruin shushed throwing a hand over the boy's mouth. "You know I'm retired from that life."

"Yet you still wear the number." Coal grumbled prying out of the man's grip and pointing to the engraving on his shoulder pad. "And still do the odd job for us."

"That's still not the point." Ruin sighed trying to get back to the real reason why he was here. "Would you babysit Angel tonight?"

"Yeah sure." Coal shrugged immediately. "You know I don't mind watching her whenever. What's the occasion?"

"Daddy is gonna postpone to Mommy." Angel cheered throwing her arms up in the air and bouncing in place. Coal just raised an eyebrow confused.

"She means propose." Ruin smiled reaching into his pocket and showing Coal a diamond ring. "But yeah… I'm going to propose to Myth tonight."

"Holy shit Ruin!"

"Strike two."

"You're actually serious?" Coal continued ignoring the interruption from the small child completely caught off guard by his friend's announcement. "You haven't even been going out that long…"

"Coal, one day you will understand just how much you could love and care about someone." Ruin said in a completely love-struck fashion. Coal looked at his old friend with wide eyes before turning away from his old squad mates and threw up his stomach contents.

"UURURRRGGG!" Coal emptied his stomach onto the ground getting a screeching 'ew' from the little girl and a laugh from his old friend. "Excuse me while I throw up again… UUUUURRRRGH!"

"Drama queen." Ruin laughed rolling his eyes as Coal cast a mischievous grin back at him.

"You know me." Coal laughed lightly. "Yeah sure, if you're adamant about throwing away your freedom then go ahead, I'll watch Angel for the night."

"Coal, when will you grow up and realise that your version of freedom and your version of alone are very similar." Ruin sighed.

"I have a girlfriend now Ruin and you know about my alternative selves…. How can I even be alone?"

"Never mind." Ruin sighed shaking his head. "Just make sure Angel gets all her homework done will you."

"Of course, I will." Coal grinned before looking down at the small girl. "You're going to get all your homework done, right?"

"Right!" Angel cheered grinning from ear to ear.

"And we are not going to be eating candy all night?"

"Nope!"

"And of course, there will be no games involved?"

"None, nada, zip!"

"And we will not be driving a car into a swimming pool like last time?"

"No promises…"

"See Ruin, we'll be fine." Coal assured his now overly concerned teammate with a light pat on the shoulder.

* * *

Now back in his room, Coal turned to face the small bundle of energy that was his squad mate's adoptive daughter. Even though the girl was very young to be involved with his old squad, she had actually been on more missions that him. Since she made it very clear that she was not going to sit by while her adoptive father was risking his life on a daily basis by sneaking her way onto missions either by smuggling herself into a crate or small space on an airship, Ruin eventually caved in and requested that Ironwood assign her a number so that he could keep a closer eye on her and keep her safe. Ever since then, the small girl had proven her worth and then some to the squad as she acquired a role as the squad's guardian angel.

"So, what are we going to play?" Angel asked bounding up to Coal after dumping her bright pink overnight bag on the boy's bed.

"You have homework to do little missy." Coal reminded crouching down to the girl's eye level. "If you get it all done before dinner… Then maybe I'll let you play on my game console."

"But I wanna play now…" Angel complained stamping her feet and pouting.

"Then I guess you won't be getting any sweets after dinner…"

Angel immediately ran towards her bag and started pulling out her homework, sitting down in the middle of the floor and scattering her book around her she set to work solving maths problems while Coal smiled at the sight. She had obviously picked up a few of his habits from spending most of her childhood around him and the rest of the squad. Just like he had picked up skills and habits from the rest of the band of misfits that had been brought together and numbered. Angel even chewed her pencil in the same way that he would when she was deep in thought.

"Coal I'm stuck!" Angel complained throwing her pencil away and pouting at the numbers as if they were supposed to solve themselves. "Stupid fucking numbers!"

"Hey that's a strike there young lady." Coal said calmly not needing to raise his voice. He never needed to with Angel.

"Sorry Uncle Coal." Angel smiled softly calming down instantly not wanting to get a second strike. "But it's too hard!"

"What do you need help with?" Coal asked sitting down beside the girl and handing her a second pencil.

Having mildly assisted the young girl through her homework without giving her any answers but allowing her to work out the sums for herself, Angel eventually finished her homework just in time for dinner. Coal guided Angel through the hallways of Beacon, ensuring that she didn't go wandering off down the wrong corridor when he wasn't looking, until they finally reached the lunch hall of the academy. Immediately, all eyes turned towards the hyperactive and hungry child bouncing beside Coal as they gathered some food and sat down at Coal's regular table with the rest of his friends. Who all glanced between the boy and child confused.

"What?" Coal asked looking across the many confused faces of his friends while Angel started digging into a whole chicken. "Oh right, Angel honey…" Said girl turned her head to look at Coal with half a chicken leg hanging from her mouth. She had learned her table manners from the boy babysitting her. "Introduce yourself will you." Coal requested while dipping his head down and returning to his own food. While Angel was still young, he intended to make sure that she could confidently speak for herself when needed to. Angel stood up on the bench and looked around Coal's friends, swallowing her food before speaking.

"My name is Angel. No last name, just Angel. I'm eight and a half years old and my favourite thing to do is dance. I've been an exe… Execu…"

"Executioner." Coal finished for the girl. Angel had trouble pronouncing some longer words.

"Yeah that, for the last three years and I carry the number nine. I also really, really, really hate homework!" The girl finished sitting back down and once again engaging herself in her dinner. Once again, all eyes turned to Coal still waiting for an explanation as to why the girl was sitting with them. Neither teams RWBY or JNPR knew really what to say or do with the small girl.

"I'm babysitting her for a friend." Coal stated. "It's only for one night so don't get too attached…"

"Did she say that she was an executioner?" Yang asked completely in shock over that fact alone.

"I _am_ an executioner." Angel giggled. "And I'm not a baby!"

"Could have fooled me." Coal joked. "Anyway, since these guys are being incredibly rude and not even saying anything… That's Yang, her sister Ruby, my sister Weiss, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora and my girlfriend Blake." Coal informed pointing to each person. However, when Coal pointed out his girlfriend, Angel took one look and dashed behind Coal completely terrified. "Hey, it's okay… She's not like the others..."

"I DON'T CARE!" Angel screamed. "KEEP HER AWAY FROM ME!"

"Angel please calm down." Coal asked calmly. The girl took a while to respond but gradually sat back in her seat staring down at her food, no longer in the mood to eat.

* * *

The rest of the meal was relatively quiet as Coal explained why he was babysitting the little girl. Weiss, having already met Ruin and Myth before, was also surprised that he was already proposing to his girlfriend having only been dating for just over a year. Meaningless conversation filled the air until Angel got bored and wanted to play some games. Coal bid his friends farewell and guided angel back towards his room, where she sat down and played some game with Coal as if nothing had even happened. Something Coal didn't much appreciate.

"Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you suddenly flip out on Blake?" Coal asked calmly already knowing the answer himself but needed the young girl to voice it for herself. Angel stopped playing and slowly put down her controller favouring to hugging her knees close to her chest for comfort.

"She's a Faunus…"

"And?"

"They're evil…"

"Not all of them are evil Angel." Coal smiled softly rubbing the girls back for comfort, something that her adoptive mother would do whenever the young girl was upset. "You can trust her."

"She's your girlfriend, right?" Angel asked finally looking into Coal's eyes for any hint of misguidance. Fortunately, she couldn't detect any hint of the boy lying to her.

"Yeah, she is."

"And you're sure she's not evil?"

"Angel we are part of an _unlisted_ ghost squad that operates on the edge of a grey area in the law." Coal laughed. "We aren't exactly the dictionary definition of _good guys_."

"We aren't evil though." Angel protested though finding a small smile from somewhere. "Daddy says we do bad things for a good reason."

"That may be true… But one person's good intentions could also be another's evil ones." Coal said turning the girl and himself to that they were now facing each other properly. "Harnessing both of those sides, understanding both the light and darkness will help you control your aura and semblance." Coal informed and getting a huge smile from the girl.

"And then I can help Daddy and Mommy!" Angel cheered throwing her arms in the air causing Coal to laugh from the girl's innocence.

"If that's what you truly want." Coal chuckled. There was a quiet knock at his door so Coal stood up and walked over to open the door to find his girlfriend standing outside. "Sup Blake." Coal greeted with a quick peck on the cheek and letting her into his room. Angel immediately gave into fear once more and hid behind the sofa trying to shield herself from the Faunus/

"Can we talk?" Blake asked glancing at the space where the small girl was concealed slightly hurt. Coal nodded knowing what was coming and motioned for them to do this out in the hallway where Angel wouldn't overhear them.

"I know what you're going to say…" Coal sighed lightly closing the door.

"Look I'm not upset by this." Blake interrupted folding her arms. "What I want is to understand why." Coal looked at his girlfriend slightly shocked at how quickly she seemed to accept the young girls fear of Faunus while also wanting to help. Blake noticed the look he was giving her and thought to explain herself. "You've proven that there's more than what's just on the surface… I'm starting to think now that your squad wasn't just a bunch of killers."

"Blake, you know I can't say anything about my squad." Coal sighed quietly before smiling mischievously. "But talking about friends is different."

"You're not going to get in trouble for telling me, are you?" Blake smiled going along with the boy's plan.

"Only if Myth finds out… She's a real stickler for the rules." Coal laughed softly before becoming fully serious. "We found Angel a few years ago… Ruin and I. It was supposed to be a routine mission to recover some intel but when we arrived in the village… It was completely burned to the ground. We found Angel inside one of the burned buildings, injured badly and very hungry. She was sitting over two bodies, her real parents, begging them to wake up. There was a lot of blood, most of it was on her for trying to wake up her dead parents. We think she actually witnessed them die."

"That's awful…" Blake gasped in shock. "Who could have done such a thing?" Blake asked not really sure if she wanted to know the answer or not. However, the look that Coal gave her told her all she needed to know. "The White Fang…"

"Yeah… Specifically Adam was the one to kill her parents." Coal informed. "I know a bit about forensics. And Adam likes to decapitate his victims, though you already knew that last part…"

"What was the name of the village?" Blake asked suddenly fearing what Coal would say next.

"Aurora."

Blake's eyes widened in horror. Feeling her knees grow weak she almost fell to the ground before Coal swiftly caught her and held her up.

"But it was reconnaissance… We were only looking for potential recruits…" Blake mumbled. Coal was starting to realise that she was going into mild shock.

About three years ago Blake had been sent on a mission to that very village under the impression that she was to find and locate some potential recruits. Not only that, but she was also ordered to identify any persons who acted against the White Fang so that they could 'avoid them' when they would search for more members… That was the last time Blake had even heard of that villages name as she had been relocated shortly after the mission to somewhere on the other side of the globe.

"Blake it's not your fault…" Coal tried to assure while his girlfriend could only beat herself up internally for not putting two and two together sooner. It had been years, why hadn't she even looked into the village since her brief assignment. Of course, she knew why… She was too blinded by that school girl crush on the faction's leader to care further than pleasing him.

"But it is my fault! I'm the one who scouted that village!"

"You couldn't have known." Coal shushed holding his girlfriend in his arms.

"But you did…" Blake muttered. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I didn't want you to blame yourself for something that was out of your control." Coal said softly.

"I'm the reason that girl has no parent."

"No Adam is that reason."

"How can you be sure?" Blake accused.

"Because I was tracking both you and Adam for years…" Coal informed getting a weird look from his girlfriend. "Don't give me that look, it was my roll. I was the tracker of the squad. I use minor details and senses to follow, track and then locate anyone and everyone."

"Another way of saying that your stalker." Blake managed to giggle managing to find the funny side of the information. Coal's way of finding a smile out of nowhere was definitely rubbing off on her.

"Yeah yeah… You're the one dating me remember." Coal chuckled alongside his girlfriend who was feeling slightly better. "You gonna be okay?"

"I think so." Blake shrugged. "I mean, it's not like it would have made a difference knowing or not."

"I hate to ask you but… Do you think you can help Angel get over her fear of Faunus?" Coal asked very sympathetically.

"I'll help any way I can." Blake agreed give her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek. Coal who was still getting used to the actions, couldn't stop his face from turning beet red. "That 59 to 43 Fluffles."

"In bird culture, that was considered a dick move." Coal joked.

"What?"

"Ugh… One day you will understand a reference I make."

"And one day you will finish Ninjas of Love."

"Get a room!" Yang shouted from inside her own room right next door to Coal's. The door wasn't even open yet she had somehow known that Blake and Coal were standing mere centimetres apart staring lovingly into each other's eyes, daring the other the make the next move.

"Angel?" Coal asked opening the door back to his room after resetting his mental state. Said child answered in a small cheer having beaten another level of her game before whipping her head around to see Coal and his girlfriend standing on the other side of the room. Immediately she dashed behind the cushions of the sofa trying to hide herself from the Faunus.

"Keep her away from me!" Angel cried out, not wanting anything to do with the Faunus. Coal stepped forward towards the child while Blake remained where she stood by the doorway, ready to leave if things got too hard for the child.

"Angel, it's okay." Coal said crouching down to the girl's eye level where she hid herself as best she could. "Is okay to be afraid of the things we don't really understand."

"I understand well enough that all Faunus are evil!"

"Angel look at me." Coal asked calmly. When angel final appeared looking over one of the cushions, Coal gave the girl a soft smile while he continued to speak. "Remember what I said before, harness both your light and dark sides to channel your semblance…" Angel nodded, closed her eyes and focused her energy. Her aura manifested around her in a bright yellow light, formulating into a pair of golden angel wings upon the child's back. When she opened her eyes, Angel looked into Coal's own obsidian black ones and spoke in an echoing angelic tone.

"You're telling the truth?"

"Have I ever lied to you?" Coal asked holding out his hand. Angel glanced at the hand for a second before taking it and completing the necessary requirements for her semblance. Coal started to feed memories of his encounters with his girlfriend to the young girl to show that she was nothing like the Faunus of the White Fang. Coal showed Angel how they first met in the forest, how he had nearly killed her all those months ago. The time in frost point where she had run in to save a small girl from a pack of Ursa. When they sat down at the docks on a weekly basis sharing stories and secrets that only they would know and also their first date. By the time Angel's hand left Coal's, she knew Blake just as well as himself. "You can trust her." Coal said softly clutching his head in agony and taking a seat on the sofa rather exhausted. One problem about the girl's semblance, was that while she could take a person's memories and experiences, she also borrowed that person's aura and on occasion she had also managed to borrow another person's semblance before. Though that had only happened under stressful circumstances.

Angel's golden glow faded with her semblance that she could only control to a certain extent. Finally crawling out of her hiding place, she gradually crept her way over to where Blake was still standing by the doorway looking rather uneasy.

Blake wasn't entirely sure what to do. she had very little experience with the younger generation and didn't have any siblings of her own to reference… Short story, she was fucked. It seemed so easy at the time agreeing to help in any way she could but now, she had no idea where to begin. Now she understood where Coal had learned to cope with younger children, he had been exposed to them for far longer and learned how to not only keep them happy, but also relatively sane… Suddenly Blake started to understand a lot more about Coal and his past. He was desperate not to let this little girl fall into the same state that he did.

Crouching down to the girl's eye level, Blake held out her hand much like Coal had done moments earlier. "Hi…" Great start.

"H-Hi.." Angel replied unsure about taking the hand the Faunus offered. "I still don't trust you."

Blake retreated her hand smiling in understanding. There was no way that someone could get over a fear like the small girls at the drop of a hat.

"I understand." Blake said softly while casting a small smiled to the small girl. "I wouldn't trust me either…"

"Uncle Coal trusts you."

"Why do you call him Uncle?"

"Because Mommy says that he and Daddy act like brothers." Angel shrugged. "That and I don't really remember my real family… So, I made my own."

Blake chuckled at the sheer childlike simplicity of the girls answer before noticing that the room was filled with the quiet snoring of Coal.

"Of course, he fell asleep again." Blake sighed shaking her head. She was surprised to find that Angel mimicked her actions and shook her head in the same fashion.

"He sleeps a lot… And it's scary when he wakes up."

"I know that all too well." Blake smirked as she crept over to her sleeping boyfriend on the sofa.

"Wait… Don't wake him up!" Angel protested starting to sound scared again. "It's against the rules."

"Since when does Coal follow rules?" Blake smirked back at that young girl who thought about it for a second before shrugging, not really able to answer the question.

"But still… Daddy got shot the last time he tried to wake him up."

Blake paid the warning no mind as she reached out to softly run her hand through Coal's hair. She managed to mess up his hair slightly for a few minutes before Coal eventually jerked awake and grabbed her hand, his other hand reaching for his revolver but for the first time ever, not drawing the weapon.

"Damn it Kitten not this again!" Coal groaned releasing his grip from both hands and only then noticing that his weapon remained undrawn and he had done no harm to anyone. "Wait…"

"See its getting better." Blake smiled resuming her calming hand motions through the boy's hair. "I told you this would work."

"Yeah but the amount of times I've nearly killed you…"

"Coal I don't care about that so long as this thing is rid of." Blake growled now pulling on the boy's ear. "It will only get in the way of things."

"Such as?" Coal asked biting down the pain in his ear. Blake gave him a hard glare as if he should know the answer already. "Oh… you mean that…"

"No shit Sherlock."

"Strike." Coal and Blake both turned their head to look at the young girl who they had forgotten about for a brief second. Angel seemed to be more comfortable being around Blake at least as she had a wide childish grin plastered on her face. "You act like Mommy and Daddy." Angel giggled pointing at the teens who were now sitting very close together. Coal and Blake looked back at each other rather embarrassed about the comparison and separated rather quickly.

"Do not compare me to that old man!" Coal said majorly offended. Though Blake was slightly more confused.

"Strike?"

"Being around a lot of adults we kinda forgot about our language from time to time…" Coal awkwardly chuckled. "So, we made a game where that if someone swears you get a strike, three strikes and you're out."

"So… what's happens when you're out?"

"Depends." Coal shrugged. "Different people have different punishments."

"Daddy punched Uncle Coal through a wall last time." Angel informed with a giggle remembering the human sized hole that was left at the time.

"And it fucking hurt too."

*BANG*

Coal jumped up and started hopping around on one foot while also clutching the other one in both hands having been shot in the exact same spot where he last ended up with three strikes. "Strike three Uncle Coal." Angel giggled who was now holding the smoking gun. Literally.

Blake looked from one human to the other confused for a second before simply shrugging the event off. She had expected something far different when meeting members of Coal's squad compared to this… This just made no sense yet still did at the same time. Needless to say, no matter who she would meet next, Blake was expecting it to be weird. Fun but very, very weird.

* * *

Late that night, Blake once again sneaked into Coals room like she would most nights of the week. Intending to prove that he was in deed getting better, Blake wanted to try and wake up Coal once more just to see how far he had recovered from his mental trauma.

Closing the door as quietly as she could, Blake suddenly remembered that Coal was babysitting and looked over to his bed to confirm her suspicions. What she found created a small smile on her face. Angel was sleeping soundly in Coal's bed clutching an oversized white plushie Beowolf muttering unintelligibly in her sleep.

It didn't take Blake only to find Coal lying on the sofa still fully dressed, minus his trench coat, with his eyes closed. Sneaking over to him, Blake once again made to run her hand through his hair before she was abruptly stopped by Coals deep whispering voice.

"I'm awake Kitten." Coal smiled opening his eyes fully and looking up to his girlfriend.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Blake asked as Coal shuffled across as much as he could to make space for the Faunus who lay down beside him.

"Angel has nightmares from time to time…" Coal answered in a whisper as to not to wake the sleeping girl. "I just wanted to be sure she was okay."

"You seem to really care about her." Blake said teasingly. "Anyone would think that she's your younger sister or something." Coal chuckled lightly at Blakes words thinking that she wasn't exactly far off with that description. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure kitten."

"Why are you really being so hard on Ruby?" Blake asked already having an answer in mind but wanting to hear it from Coal herself. Coal sighed figuring that maybe he could tell Blake a few things about his own experiences which he was trying to implement onto Ruby.

"She's young, manipulative, and relatively easy to break. Much like Angel." Coal muttered. "When I joined the squad… Lucian, my doctor, was also part of that squad and trained me to control my anger. He explained to me that people have both light and dark attributes which is where our auras and semblances originate. Mastering both of those sides enables you to unlock your full potential."

"So, your forcing Ruby's darkness out?"

"In a way, yes." Coal confirmed nodding. "Forcing it out here and now where it can be controlled, rather than in the middle of a battle with an unknown enemy, has already proven to be more beneficial."

"Let me guess… You know from experience." Blake said sarcastically.

"Not my own…" Coal whispered sorrowfully. "Angel wasn't exactly the same girl she was when we first found her. Instead of bringing out her darkness, we needed to rekindle her light. Ruin was the one who brought it out and since then, Angel called him Daddy. It wasn't long after that when Ruin officially adopted her... that and she tended to follow us around everywhere, even on missions. She ditched child services and foster parents just to find Ruin. She would latch onto him and never let go." Coal cast his eyes over to the sleeping child remembering back to those days. "She's terrified to be alone and only trusts a hand full of people…" Coal said softly. He never wanted to see the young girl act like she did back then.

"So you're not just a squad of killers." Blake muttered to herself. "You're like a majorly dysfunctional family."

"When you put it like, then yeah I guess so." Coal shrugged wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. Blake snuggled into the hold and let out a relaxed sigh.

"Why is it that the more I discover about you the more I realise just how wrong my first impression was?"

"I could say the same thing." Blake raised a questioning eyebrow, unsure about what the boy was saying. "Come on Blake do you really think I expected to end up like this?" Coal laughed gesturing to how they were cuddled up on the sofa. "That and you don't walk around with that patented Blake scowl every minute of the day." Blake looked at him relatively unamused by the comment. "Yeah that look."

"Keep this up and I'll go back to my room." Blake threatened.

"Don't you normally do that?" Coal asked rather confused himself. Blake shook her head and waited for Coal to figure out what she was implying. Sometimes her boyfriend could be dense. Coal looked blankly at his girlfriend for a minute… Then two and finally a third before finally. "What?"

Blake scoffed and shook her head. Through her peripheral vision she noticed Coals coat hanging up in the corner of the room and left her comfortable position on the sofa to retrieve it. lying back down on the sofa and throwing the makeshift blanket over them both, Blake snuggled back into her boyfriend and closed her eyes, signalling that she wasn't leaving anytime soon.

"Errr… I really don't think this is a good idea." Coal muttered awkwardly.

"Just shut up for once and do as your told." Blake yawned not moving from her place beside Coal on the sofa. Coal had no other option but to give into his girlfriend's demands and let her sleep beside him for once. Though Coal figured that he still wouldn't be doing any sleeping himself as he still had Angel to watch over as well as not wanting to accidently hurt Blake if he still couldn't control his reflex.

Blake, who was now fast asleep in her boyfriend's arms, snuggled in closer absorbing his body heat by pressing her body up against Coal's. it wasn't long after that when she managed to get her legs tangled up in his own.

It was going to be a long night…


	30. Chapter 30

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

I'M BACK!

I am so sorry for being away so long. Between moving house, babysitting and also generally needing to be an adult , finding the time to write has been difficult not to mention that ive had a lot of bother setting up the internet in the new place.

That being said. Things will slowly return to normal as I still have little time to write but I promise you all that this fic is not dead! It will not die!

* * *

Chapter 30: What Lies Unnoticed

"And then, Daddy and Uncle Coal started fighting and ended up destroying half the base!" Angel giggled standing in the middle of the table bouncing up and down hyperactively. She had awoken full of energy late in the morning having overslept and when she found out that breakfast was about to finish, she opted to leave getting ready until later in the morning in favour of getting at least a few pancakes. So, at the moment she was energetically bouncing around on a small sugar rush in her pyjamas while her Uncle Coal and Blake ate. "Three months it took us to make a base in that red zone and they ruined it in less than an a few minutes!"

"It was more like half an hour." Coal corrected drinking from a mug of strong coffee, his alternative to alcohol having kept up with the rule Blake set about them becoming an item. "And I'll have you know I won that fight."

"Did not!" Angel retorted getting up in Coal's face and looking very offended for her adoptive father.

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did… OW, OW, OW!" Coal yelped when Blake started to pull on his ear fed up with the boy's childishness.

"I thought, for once, you would at least act mature." Blake deadpanned finally releasing the boy from her grip so that he could resume eating in silence, though the couple did share a short laugh and smile between them. Angel however couldn't stop herself from looking from her uncle to the Faunus, and then back again several times before finally coming to a conclusion for herself about the Faunus she had thought to be hostile at first. She could see from Coal's permanently visible smile every time he and Blake were together that the boy cared about her very much. Much like her adoptive father cared about her self-proclaimed, though not yet solidified, mother.

"Uncle Coal guess what!" She squealed once again bouncing in place. Coal looked up from his food showing that the young girl had his full attention. "daddy called me earlier… He and Mommy are exchanged!"

"Engaged." Coal corrected laughing softly. He had expected that outcome to begin with. "I give it a year before Ruin ends up in the ground. OW!"

"You shouldn't joke about that." Blake scoffed having punched Coal in the shoulder and gesturing towards the younger girl who just shrugged and gave her opinion.

"I give them six months."

"That's my niece!" Coal laughed bumping fists with the young girl.

"So, when are you going to marry Auntie Blake?" The small child asked tilting her head innocently. Blake spit her tea across the hall where as Coal ended up choking on some of his breakfast and needed a hard slap on the back from his girlfriend to dislodge the bacon slices from this throat.

"Let's not get carried away there." Coal chuckled awkwardly slapping his chest to help clear his thought as Blake buried her nose into another book removing herself from the conversation.

"But you love her right?" Angel continued to interrogate her uncle in her own innocent way. While she may appear to be a simple innocent child, she knew exactly what she was doing and which buttons she was pressing to get a reaction. She had spent a long time around Coal to learn a thing or two about how to manipulate people and influence their mental state.

"Err… It's not as simple as that kiddo." Coal tried to explain while looking to Blake for assistance. Unfortunately for him, she was either to engrossed in her book or just completely ignoring him. The way her checks glowed red from embarrassment suggested that it was the former. "You see we've only been dating a month so stuff like that will happen when it happens."

"But you two slept together last night on the sofa…"

"Alongside! We slept alongside each other!" Blake and Coal quickly corrected in sync.

"What's the difference?"

"You'll find that out when your older." Coal stated folding his arms. "I give you a lot of freedom of speech kid, but that is across the line and a fair bit privet. Change the subject will you." Angel pondered for a few moments looking around the hall for some sort of inspiration. When she spotted the title of Blake's book, Ninjas of Love, she lit up with an idea.

"Mommy reads the same books as you. I borrowed them once…"

"Did Myth know you had borrowed them?" Coal questioned slightly concerned and horrified at the same time.

"Not exactly…"

"So, you stole them?"

"I like to say that I borrowed them without permission." Angel giggled. "But I didn't understand most of it, like, what's an orgasm?"

"This kid is kill me!" Coal cried out faceplanting the desk alongside his girlfriend who followed swiftly after him and faceplanted the table also.

Over by the door, Weiss stood alongside the rest of her teammates overlooking the scene commenting over the how… Odd the situation looked.

"Look at them… Just look at the way their acting." Yang groaned folding her arms. "Coal I can't even begin to understand and now the kid has even turned Blake into that… You'd think that Blake just gained a niece herself or something!"

"I've never seen Coal look so relaxed…" Weiss continued staring at her twin brother unable to recognise him in the slightest. "Maybe I was wrong about him, maybe he could be the same Coal that I remember for back when we were kids?"

"I still can't believe that little girl is an executioner!" Ruby continued on gushing. "She is so CUTE!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!" Angel screamed from way across the hall. Coal immediately regained the girl's attention by flicking her ear and thus taking the majority of the girl's frustration himself rather than subjecting Ruby to the torment of calling the girl cute… The one thing that Angel hated was being referred to something that referenced her inferior size and strength. Cute just so happened to be the worst name to call her, something Coal had found out the hard way. He still had the scar to prove it.

"Regardless…" Weiss continued on making note of how well her twin brother managed kids. "Don't you think that they look a little too comfortable like that?"

"You don't think…"

The three girls look back at the scene where Coal was now busy quietly telling off Angel who had tried to 'borrow' some food from Coal's plate. While being lectured for getting caught stealing, Angel often would look towards Blake hoping she would come to her aid though the Faunus never did, stating that the young girl should know better than stealing… Or at least getting caught doing so.

Yang quickly whipped out her scroll and pressed buttons furiously. She needed to confirm something for herself before her mind lost it. It wasn't long before she squealed.

"Oh my Oum! It's so cute!"

"Let me see…" Weiss and Ruby begged before squealing at the sight of what was on Yang's scroll. The squealing attracted the attention of a young man walking around outside looking incredibly lost.

"What in the name of my sobriety is going on in here?" Ruin asked stepping up to the group of girls having recognised Weiss' shrieking squeal almost immediately. They had met only a few times before but Ruin remembered that if he could find one twin, he could usually find the second close by.

"Oh, hi Ruin." Weiss greeted before she snatched Yang's scroll away and showed the image on the screen to Ruin who just looked at it for a second before snapping his eyes over towards Coal and Blake who were once again, laughing alongside his adoptive daughter. The image Weiss had shown was from a website that combined the images of two people and created an image of what their offspring would look like. In this case, she had combined mug shots of both Coal and Blake to create their would be procreation. "What do you think?"

"I think that you girls have way to much spare time on your hands if you're doing stuff like this… But send me a copy of that. Coal will hate this!" Ruin chuckled immediately sending a copy of the picture to his own scroll. "Shouldn't you girls be studying or something?"

"No but we should really get to start on setting up the great hall for this dance." Weiss shrugged.

As the girls walked away to get to their task, Ruin looked back over to the scene where his younger squad mate and adoptive daughter laughed alongside Adam's ex and right hand woman. He knew Angel's outright fear of Faunus and for her to act so comfortably around one after only spending one night with her self-proclaimed Uncle Coal, Ruin couldn't help but let out a relaxed breath.

Deciding to not interrupt the three during their breakfast, mainly because Angel didn't get to see her uncle as much as she wanted to, Ruin headed back outside to bask in the warm daylight. It had been a long time since he had been able to just sit back and relax and Ruin was ready to snatch up the opportunity to do nothing but chill out for the morning.

Parking his ass on a bench in the courtyard, Ruin simply rest his head back and enjoyed the sunlight, letting his mind empty for the first time in a long while. His day job took a lot out of him, not to mention that he still completed odd jobs for the squad when he was needed. He was the best hacker among them even after teaching Coal a trick or two.

Ruin couldn't help but laugh to himself lightly over how much both himself and Coal had grown over the last few years since they were recruited into the squad. They had started off as enemies, hating each other and doing everything in their power to make the other surrender after a long and destructive fight. But in the end, when it came down to it, they were the best pair on the squad. Both had made a name for themselves on the front lines. Having fought so hard against each other, Ruin and Coal had learned the other's strengths and weaknesses and thus could accommodate for other when needed. They would never need to speak during a battle, they never needed to plan strategy, but most of all… They always came out on top without a scratch.

Over time Ruin began to think of Coal as the younger brother he never had. Having been an orphan for his whole life after being dumped on the doorstep of a nunnery as a two week old infant, Ruin never really had much of a family of his own. A fact he was proud of as he used to jump headfirst into battle without any fear of dying, thinking that no one would miss someone who never really existed. Every time he would come out unharmed, unscathed and not even mildly out of breath. He had his semblance to thank for that…

Speaking of, Ruin detached the flask of alcohol engraved with his number (V) from his shoulder and took a long drink of the harsh liquid. Because of his semblance, Ruin needed to continuously consume alcohol to maintain his aura shield. The more he drank, the stronger his aura became and thus increased his power, speed and resistances. He could survive almost anything anyone could throw at him if he drank enough. Something he had proved countless time during his many fights with Coal, who never held back against him and aimed to kill.

Ruin thought back to all the times Coal had pulled the trigger against him. Aimed between his eyes with intent to kill and fired without thought. Ruin knew that back then Coal was in a dark place and took it upon himself to vent the boys anger and frustration himself by subjecting himself to tremendous amounts of punishment and abuse delivered by the hurting boy… And now he was finally seeing his work come to light.

Coal was now a young man. Kind, caring and had a heart belonging both in rekindled light and harboured dark. He could step into a place where few could enter and still retain their sanity. It was one of the few things Ruin respected about Coal. That he would take on the dark horrors few could even imagine in favour of subjecting others to it themselves. Angel was one of those people. Ruin may have been the one who brought Angel back from a dark place, but what many didn't know was that Coal was the one who actually started that journey. He knew full well what the small girl was feeling and sought to ensure that she would never feel that way again. It was Coal who convinced Ruin into accepting the small girl as a daughter. It was Coal who talked Ruin into opening up to Myth and then convince his long-time friend into asking the young woman out. Now that Ruin thought about it… Coal had done just as much for him as he had done for Coal.

In some weird way… Coal was the brother that Ruin had always dreamed of having.

Ruin was startled from his daydreaming by the sound of a heavy sigh along with the disappointing footsteps of a blond knight looking very much like someone had just pooped on his heart. Somehow the boy looked familiar to Ruin… Wasn't this kid one of the guys Coal had mentioned in his reports?

"Hey what's up kid?" Ruin called out rattling his brain for a name. The boy stopped his slow walking and let out another heavy sigh, holding up the small flower in his hand.

"Ever had your heart stepped on repeatedly by the same girl?" Jaune answered rhetorically.

"Wait I do know you… Your one of Coal's friends err… Jean or John…"

"Jaune Arc."

"Yeah that's the one." Ruin laughed lightly. "And to answer your question, yes I have. Take a seat Young'un and tell me about it." Jaune looked at the young man weirdly for a second causing Ruin to chuckle lightly. "I'm Ruin. Coal is watching my daughter and I'm enjoying the peace and quiet for a moment before I have to return to daddy duties. Any friend of the runt's is a friend of mine."

Jaune recognising the name that Coal had spoken of a few times decided that venting his frustrations on to someone who he would most likely never see again sounded like a good idea. Not to mention that the way Coal held the man in such a high regard prompted Jaune to figure that he could put his faith in the man himself.

"I just don't get it." Jaune started taking a seat next to the young man. "All my dad said women look for is confidence."

"I take it that approach didn't work?" Ruin asked already knowing the answer himself. "Might I ask who the lass is?"

"Weiss Schnee…" Jaune answered in an affectionate sigh. Ruin froze up for a second before erupting into a hysterical fit of laughter seeing the irony. "What's so funny?" Jaune questioned looking incredibly offended yet Ruin did not let up on the laughter.

"It's just…" Ruin forced through bouts of hysterics. "Coal has a habit of choosing close friends that try to hit on his sisters!"

"You tried to hit one Weiss?" Jaune questioned completely shocked not understanding the inside joke.

"Hell no! His older sister Winter!" Ruin corrected trying to calm himself down. "By Oum she is one hell of a woman… Don't tell Myth I said that."

"I don't even know who that is…"

"Even still… Let me guess, your head over heels for this girl and she's the only one for you or something to that extent."

"She's everything I could ever want and more."

"Damn is this what I sounded like? I owe the runt an apology." Ruin mumbled to himself realising that he was now on the other end of a conversation he had had with Coal some time ago. "I'm going to give you some advice that a good friend of mine once gave me… Now how did Coal word this again… Oh yeah that right, Jaune, do you know where your nose is?"

"My What…" Jaune questioned confused. It wasn't a second later that he was punched in the nose jolting his head back from such a hard strike, crying out in pain. "WHAT THE FUCK YOU JUST BROKE MY NOSE!" Jaune yelled furiously clutching his now heavily bleeding nose in both hands.

"Good, now that you know where your nose is you can start looking past it." Ruin smirked standing up from his seat on the bench. "Look past that tunnel vision you have for that Schnee and you might just realise that your missing out on the world… And the person your really supposed to be with. For all you know, they've been right in front of you this whole time." Ruin then started to walk away having gave out the exact same advice Coal had given him just over a year ago, taking a long drink of strong whiskey as he went, humming a tune to himself.

Jaune followed the man with his eyes for a long while completely mind fucked by his actions before setting off himself to go and fix his nose. Luckily he had stumbled upon Pyrrha who immediately grew concerned for her partner and escorted him to the school's infirmary. For some reason that Jaune couldn't explain, he couldn't get the words that Ruin had used out of his mind. What was it that he had been missing out on?

* * *

After Angel had been collected by her adoptive father, Coal and Blake were finally left alone for a while to bask in the peaceful atmosphere of the warm day. Unfortunately for Blake, Coal was catching up on some much needed studying as he had neglected to pick up a single text book for almost a week now.

"Come on can't we go out and do something while its nice?" Blake pouted trying to persuade her boyfriend to stop studying leaving his stuffy room. "You have all the time in the world to research… What am I even looking at?"

"The schools network protocols and diagnostics." Coal stated typing away on his laptop while also checking his notebook every now and again. "The place has really weak security."

"You hacked our school?"

"I got bored while you and Angel slept and messed around for a while and found some really weird anomalies about this place." Coal stated, his eyes racing across the text appearing on the screen and flicking over to his notes so that he could add to them. "For reasons that I still can't find, there is an unusual amount of power being drawn to something underneath the lowest levels of this place but the schematics I've recovered from both public records and even Ozpin's privet network show that there is nothing there."

"Did you even get any sleep last night?" Blake questioned. Coal span around in his chair slightly agitated that Blake had only picked up on that little bit of what he had said.

"That's what you pick up from all that? That I didn't sleep last night."

"I kind of thought that you would have at least attempted." Blake stated folding her arms and narrowing her eyes at the boy.

"And put you at risk? No I'd rather lose the sleep."

"You won't kill me, I trust you."

"I know you do." Coal admitted folding his hands over one another. Even though he had come a long way in terms of getting over his past horrors, Coal still felt as though he had a long way to go before letting himself indulge in such a venerable position. "But I can't risk it." Blake moved over and pulled his hands apart, sliding her fingers in between his own.

"You can't doubt yourself forever. You're not as messed up as you think, just look at how you are with Angel. She looks up to you."

"She really shouldn't." Coal muttered.

"That's not your decision. She does whether you like it or not, so this uncertainty and confusion, what kind of image does that set for her?"

"Not a very good one." Coal sighed.

"Exactly. You need to stop overthinking everything and just let that mind of yours switch off. You may seem like a child but I know you well enough that you use that as a front so that no one else catches on to the fact that you're really thinking a mile a minute and predicting every possible scenario. Not everyone and everything is out to get you Coal."

"Your right… Your always right." Coal sighed forcing a slight smile. "That being said… I still don't think it's a good idea for us to sleep together just yet." The only response that Coal got was a raised eyebrow questioning the words he used and his intentions. "You know what I mean."

"Maybe I do and maybe I don't." Blake teased pecking her boyfriend on the cheek. After staring into each other's eyes for who knows how long, Coal's scroll pinged having received a message from Ruin with an image attached. The image he had gotten from Weiss earlier. "What's up?" Blake asked noticing the horrified look on Coals face.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Coal immediately replied quickly deleting the picture from his scroll and personal memory. "But next time I see Ruin, he will be getting a swift kick in the nuts!" Blake giggled at her boyfriend's determination to inflict harm to one of his closest friends. She adored the way he seemed to treat everyone he cared about as if they were his own personal family. She could barely recall the Coal that she had met in the forest at the start of the year and now that she was thinking about it, she wondered exactly if he would ever return to that mental state. She fully accepted the fact that he was and still remains a soldier, but she didn't want him to change from the way he was now.

"Speaking of your squad." Blake stated trying to find out more about his past wanting to understand his past. "What's with the numbers?"

"Well that's a simple answer. We are all just pawns, rather than show our faces we all wore masks with numbers on them so that no one would see our faces, just our number. It was meant to instil a deeper fear into our targets."

"Who's dumb idea was that?"

"Mine." Coal stated. "That and I couldn't look anyone in the eye when I killed them. The mask helped with that."

"So you also carry a number?" Blake asked remembering the way Angel identified her own number the day before. She thought it was an odd way of saying it at the time but now was starting to understand just what it meant to be a numbered executioner.

She was reminded of the masks that her fellow white Fang members wore while on missions. Never really forming any bonds with anyone and unable to put a face to a name made it difficult to really feel any sort of remorse should any one of them got killed or captured. But then if that was the case with Coal's squad, why did he seem so close to them all?

"I carry the number seven." Coal answered reaching into his coat and pulling out a small cube that Blake recognised as the same cube that Weiss had given Yang as proof to collect whatever Coal had requested from Junior. Coal unlocked his mask and presented it to Blake who held it up to her face and looked into it.

"I can't see through it." She stated flipping it over and looking at the frost white engraving of Coal's number. "What's the point of a mask with no eye slots?"

"So I don't have to look at the people I kill."

"Then how do you see with this thing?"

"I don't see, I feel." Coal explained taking the mask back and returning it to its previous form and hiding it back inside his coat. "Can I borrow your bow for a second?" Blake wasn't sure what he was about to do but remover her bow and handed it to him curiously. "You remember when I fought Cardin and his team?"

"Yeah, though I wouldn't exactly call it a fight… It was more of a beatdown." Blake shrugged not knowing where he was going with his explanation. Coal tied the bow around his eyes making a blindfold for himself so that he couldn't see a thing.

"Try and hit me."

"What?"

"Try and hit me." Coal repeated smiling. Blake didn't know what else to do so flicked him on the nose playfully. "I mean actually hit me damn it." Blake shook her head thinking that this whole thing was stupid and made to slap Coal across the face, hard. She missed. Coal stepped backwards before she had even started swinging and tutted in disappointment. "Come on, at least try to do some damage."

Blake had had enough. She balled a fist and launched a punch towards the childish boy. She was completely taken by surprise when Coal not only dodged the strike, but also managed to twist his body around her own and end up standing behind her with speed that could match Ruby's top speed. Starting to grow competitive with her boyfriend, something that happened more often than not, Blake launched more punches and swipes at Coal growing more and more amused by the second as Coal dodged and weaved through every attack with ease, still completely blinded by the bow over his eyes.

After a good ten minutes of missing every attempt, Blake finally gave in and helped Coal out of the blindfold that he had stupidly tied far too tight.

"So what exactly was the point in that little demonstration?" Blake asked retying the bow over her ears, still feeling the amusement of what could have been described, in a twisted way, as their first dance.

"You've seen how dense I make my mist clouds first hand. Even I can't see through it so I had to learn how to fight while basically being blind." Coal explained. "As a Faunus, you understand how to use your heightened senses of smell and hearing correct? Well I do something similar while channelling a Grimm's instincts through a series of glyphs."

"So you summon Grimm instincts, over your own?"

"No I channel those instincts so that they work with my own senses." Coal corrected. "It's not summoning. It's something I learned how to do from the glyph in my back but now that's gone, I have to manifest the glyph myself rather than rely on the one that was previously there."

"So… Your half Grimm?" Blake questioned sarcastically.

"I hear the sarcasm Blake but in a weird way of saying, yeah, I am half Grimm. Remember what I said ages ago, to summon a monster wouldn't I first need to become one?" Blake's expression dropped having understood where that comment originated. Coal had had that glyph embedded into his back for well over 7 years now and over that time he must have needed to continuously fight against the instincts of the monsters he could access. It was no surprise that he had an animalistic side. Blake should have realised it sooner, that he was living as a collective of monsters that he not only had access to as summons, but that they also had access to as a host… Before Blake could even respond, Coal turned around showing his back to her and pulled aside his coat to show off a long white wolfs tail that came from a small glyph on his lower back. "Though it does have some benefits." Coal chuckled as the tail started to wag from side to side. While Blake still couldn't get the thoughts of Coal being basically part Grimm, she couldn't help but giggle at the childish manor at having a tail.

It was no wonder he accepted Faunus so easily. Deep down, he was something much worse.

* * *

"Hey Coal are you ready yet?" Weiss asked peeking into her twin's room hoping he was at least half decent. Nine times out of ten when they were living back at home and their father had arranged for them to attend some formal event, Coal would still be in his underwear playing games until the very last moment… This time however, much to the persuasion of Blake, Coal had gotten himself ready with plenty time to spare.

"Well… How do I look baby sis?" Coal asked as he stopped doing up his tie and spread his arms wide. Weiss would happily admit any day of the week, much to her twin's argument, that Coal could clean up nice and did look good in a suit.

"You still look like crap." Weiss teased walking over to help her brother with the tie. "Seriously why can you never remember how to do this?"

"Because I hate them." Coal choked when his sister playfully tightened the neck trap far too tightly. "You know I don't do this sort of crap without first having an argument with father."

"You and he never could agree on anything…" Weiss chuckled sadly lowering her head. Coal lifted her head upwards so that he could look his twin in the eyes.

"Something's bothering you, what's up?" Weiss huffed, flaunting her dress as she danced around the empty space of her twins room trying to figure out the answers to her own turmoil herself.

"Am I pretty?" Weiss finally blurted out completely taking Coal off guard.

Coal had come in contact with many obscure things in his life. From being experimented on, tortured half to death and so many more things yet nothing, nothing in his entire life could have prepared him for that grenade that just exploded in his face.

"Well I picked the wrong time to quit drinking…" Coal sighed heavily sitting down on the desk chair. "Why would you even need to ask such a question? Let alone as me? Isn't this kind thing something to ask any other female in exitance?"

"Neptune rejected me."

With his sisters enlightenment to her completely shattered self-confidence, Coal changed his attitude completely. Favouring a caring and mature persona for this instance, Coal wrapped his twin in a soft embrace and told Weiss to explain what happened.

Weiss went on to explain that she approached the blue haired teen and asked him if he would like to accompany her to the dance only to be rejected and pushed away with no explanation as to why. As the explanation went, Weiss felt herself grow angrier at the aspect that she was turned away in possibly the worst possible way, in her mind anyway as Coal could come up with many more hurtful ways that she had turned down Jaune but kept them to himself.

"Who does he think he is turning me down like that!" Weiss angrily stomped around venting her frustrations by kicking around on of the sofa cushions. The physical therapy was helping her keep her cool somewhat and doing practically no harm to herself. Coal simply stood off to the side waiting for his sister to finish beating the crap out of his furniture. "There is nothing wrong with me, NOTHING!" Weiss reached onto her twins desk to grab the closest object to launch towards the wall.

"Don't throw my gun Weiss." Coal blankly stated, quickly stopping his sister from doing something stupid. Weiss sighed and put the gun down before grabbing Coal's small piggy bank and slamming that against the wall instead launching his loose change everywhere. "Great… Now I've got that to clean up."

"WILL YOU STOP THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF FOR ONE FREAKING MINUTE!" Weiss screamed finally fed up with her twins lack of interest. She hadn't even realised that Coal had listened to every word she had said and had come up with his own idea on the situation.

"What do you like about him so much anyway?" Coal asked in a calm tone not responding to the outburst from his twin in a negative way and making her explode further.

"I don't know… He's cool." Weiss shrugged. "Good looking, smart, strong-"

"And you know all this from spending how long with him exactly?"

"Since when did you become the guru of relationships? If I remember correctly, it was me who talked you into going out with Blake."

"This isn't about me is it?" Coal sighed trying to not let his sister dodge the topic any further. He had figured that this conversation had been coming on for a while so he was just wanting to get it over with so that both he and his twin could move on. "What's really got you in a bad mood about this? You must be able to see that Neptune shot you down just like how you shot down Jaune every time he asked you out."

"That's different…"

"No, it's not Weiss." Coal sighed shaking his head. "I don't know why he rejected you, heck personally I'm glad he did because one way or another, you know now exactly what Jaune must go through every single time you slam the door in his face. I don't mean to be harsh, but seriously Weiss, you really need to take a step back and figure out what it is you want. Otherwise your just going to go round and round in the same pattern and missing a great opportunity that you were just too proud to even consider." Coal stared down his twin sister who remained silent letting his words sink in. Weiss opened her mouth to argue further but swiftly shut if again knowing deep down that her twin might actually be right this time. It was a few hollow moments before she finally came up with a response.

"I just want what you and Blake have." Weiss admitted quietly. "I knew you two would be great together I just didn't expect you to be all… That."

"All what?" Coal asked now confused himself. Just what was his twin getting at.

"It's nothing." Weiss smiled rolling her eyes. it seemed that her twin was still oblivious to some things. "But maybe your right… I have been a bit harsh on Jaune, even though he did deserve it sometimes…"

"Please remind him to return my guitar at some point." Coal chuckled to himself remembering the many times the blond knight tried to win his sisters heart with song.

"I'll remind him after I apologise to him." Weiss smiled alightly. She wasn't exactly over the hurt she had been feeling but she knew she could at least do something to make herself feel better. Perhaps one dance with Jaune would be a good start to making up to all the times she had slammed the door in his face and she would definatly need to rethink her priorities when it came to boys. Her twin had been right. She was far to proud to concider anoyone at the school before. "Arent you going to get Blake now?"

"Oh crap im late!" Coal jolted realising the time. "pass me my gun!"

"Your not taking a loaded weapon to a school dance you dolt!"

"Why not?"

"BECAUSE ITS POSSIBLY THE LEAST DANGEROUS EVENT OF THE YEAR!"

"And?"

"You are hopeless…"

"Oh, and Weiss." Coal stopped halfway through the doorway and looked back at his sister. "Blake and I don't have the perfect relationship. We fight and argue just as much as any other couple so don't think it's all perfect like in the movies. I know one day, you'll find your soulmate. And I'll be there to kick his ass when you do."

"Just go already!" Weiss scolded throwing a book at her twin. When Coal disappeared around the doorway, Weiss couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. Her twin may be a dense idiot at times, but when he really put his mind to it, he could say exactly what she needed to hear to feel better.

Having lost the argument of bring along a weapon, Coal stood outside of team RWBY's room trying to build up the confidence to knock on the door so that he could take his girlfriend to the dance. It had been a whole month since they had listened to their feelings and finally got together but for the first time since that first date, Coal felt incredibly nervous.

There was a sickly feeling building up inside the pit of his gut. A feeling that he couldn't interoperate whether or not it was just his nerves about tonight or if it had something to do with his Grimm instincts acting up. since his operation, those instincts dulled quite a bit so that he wasn't as accustom to sensing incoming threats and danger, even his sense of smell and hearing had dulled because of the loss of the glyph on his back. Yet over time, Coal was slowly able to figure out means of getting them back. He never realised just how much he had come to rely on those hidden abilities.

"Come on you weak ass little bitch." Coal scolded himself still unable to bring himself to knock on the door. "It's just like any other date." He continued to remind himself but at the same time he knew it wouldn't be.

Coal hated these kinds of events. Ever since he was a little kid he had despised everything about events like this because of the simple reason that he had to appear formal and respectable whereas he, along with everyone else knew, that he would prefer to be far away fighting a horde of Grimm with his bare hands. He belonged on the battlefield and having gotten himself a girlfriend, over the past month Coal realised that keeping a girlfriend was a battle of its own. Never had his mind been so tested.

Though it wasn't all bad.

Coal had learned quite a bit about himself because of the new relationship and had even come to think of himself as an idiot for not perusing it earlier. Weiss would often tease him about being whipped and having 'gone soft' as she put it but Coal would simply shrug it off. Why? Because as time went on the more he came to realise just how much he cared for the Faunus.

He had never loved anyone romantically before. He had no idea what the feeling was like. So like any inexperienced person, he just let what naturally happens happen. sometimes it was good, other times… Well Blake only tried to shoot him once in the last month which was a good sign really. He remembered when his older brother figure Ruin got together with Myth and she had almost killed him within the first 3 hours.

Then things had to have been made complicated by Angel. Her innocent childish manor had brought to light just how much he had wanted to admit that maybe, just maybe he loved Blake. He hadn't even considered the possibility that he did up until that point where she outright asked him over breakfast if he did truly love the Faunus.

"Go on you little bitch. Knock."

Coal's eyes widened at the voice of a girl that he recognised from his passed and whipped his head around while also manifesting a glyph under the skin of his right shoulder. His aura shifted and formed into the sharp claw of a beowolves over his arm as he began to snarl like the beast he was channelling ready for a fight.

But there was no one to slash at.

Coal stared into the empty corridor wondering if he had really miss heard the voice of one of his old squad mates. The one who carried the number ten.

But she was dead. He knew she was dead, he had watched her die himself so how could it have been her?

His nerves must really be playing up if he is imagining _her_ voice. But just to be safe Coal pulled out his scroll and sent a message to Ruin, requesting him to look into the possibility of the girl being alive before returning his arm to normal and knocking on the door trying to force the memories down into the dark void of his mind. He did not want to relive those days again and if she was indeed alive… He would be subjected to those nightmares again and again until she was done with him.

* * *

Elsewhere, a figure in a black cloak phased into exitance in one of the white fangs hideouts in the city of Vale. Breathing a sigh of pleasure, she removed her hood along with the mask that carried her number and tossed the mask aside.

Hidden behind the mask and hood was a beautiful young girl with short black hair tinted white at the ends.

"How far you have fallen Coal… Oh how far you have fallen." She giggled to herself. Out of the shadows behind her, a figure in a mask of his own emerged. His face and number hidden by the hood of his black trench coat.

" **My host is not to be underestimated. Don't forget that."**

"Don't you worry my dear old pet, I won't let him cage you up any more." The girl giggled further turning around to see the figures number 7 start to glow a dark crimson red underneath the hood.

" **Good… It will be soon time to show him hell."**


	31. Chapter 31

The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N Chapter 31: Pieces

Sorry this chapter took so long guys. But here it is.

You know, since starting this fic a lot has happened to this story that i really didnt expect. I really didnt expect this to get the reception that it has and because of you guys, reviewing, following and favouring... Well this has given me the motivation to keep this going for as long as I can. Not to mention that the number of ideas that come to me are beyond exceptional.

I also want to give a shout out to Ragnorak16 for just being awesome and keeping the cogs turning! You rock dude!

Did anyone see the trailer for volume 5? HOT DAMN! Ive already got ideas about where this fic can go in the future from that small trailer!

incase i need remind everyone... I dont own RWBY. nor do i own any of the songs mentioned in any chapter. i just own Coal... and Angel, Ruin, Myth and the rest of his squad

* * *

When Blake opened the door, Coal forgot everything he had just been thinking about. Growing up as a child soldier, Coal had learned how to keep a focused mind and not let distractions take his attention away from a distinct matter at hand. However, for longer than he would like to admit, the cat Faunus had a way of capturing his attention completely. to a point where he would sometimes blank out the rest of the world and only see her amidst a forest of people.

And tonight, she would have his full attention.

"Wow…" Was all Coal was able to mumble taking in the image of his girlfriend wearing her dark purple dress that he knew just from looking at it that Weiss had helped her pick out. His sister did have good taste after all. "You look amazing."

"Thank you." Blake blushed smiling at the compliment. While it had been a month since she and Coal became official, she still had yet to become used to the compliments. While she recognised the look in his eyes that gave away most of his emotions towards her, Blake would still grow embarrassed at his boyish charm. Coal was no experienced lady's man, that was one obvious fact, but he knew exactly how to make her blush and smile instantly.

Extending his arm for his date, who took the arm in her own, Coal lead them through the school and towards the sound of music blasting from the great hall without uttering a single word between them. Neither of which mattered about the lack of speech between them. Once again, they had slipped into a comfortable silence.

When they arrived at the entrance, Yang, who was managing the front desk for the first few minutes of the event, was there to greet them and broke the two out of their thoughts.

"Awww don't you two look cute together." Yang teased pulling out her scroll and taking a quick picture of the couple. "But why do you both look like you don't want to be here?"

It was true. Neither Blake nor Coal actually wanted to be at the dance. Truth be told they had originally planned on skipping the event and taking a trip down to the docks and have themselves a quiet night fishing and reading in piece. Free from the prying eyes of their friends and Coal's rather silent squad mate Myth who had not only taken a lot of blackmail pictures of him on dates with the Faunus, but also informed his entire squad that he had finally landed a girl. Coal suspected that said silent assassin would be lurking around the event somewhere to take more embarrassing photos.

"Not really our scene." Blake answered first in a slight shrug. Skipping the event was originally her idea in the first place which after informing her team on her decision they were quick to remind her that she pretty much didn't have a choice in the matter. Thus, Blake dragged Coal along with her to suffer through the entire ordeal together.

Coal fiddled with his tie and top button feeling slightly short of breath. "I hate you guys…" He groaned in annoyance, hiding the fact that he was secretly liking the sight of Blake all dressed up. "I could have been doing something way more fun than this."

"Oh, I'll bet." Yang grinned implying something dirty minded and getting rather annoyed glares in return from both Blake and Coal. "Not what I meant and you know it."

"I know but it's just far too tempting to mess with you." Yang continued to grin. "You two should head on inside, Weiss is already in there and Coal… I don't know what you said to her but thank you for it. She's in a much better mood than earlier."

"Good." Coal smiled softly. "I was afraid I was a bit too harsh on her."

"You're fine. Sometimes being harsh is the only way to get the message across." Yang assured. "Now get on in there and have some fun!"

"Don't you give me ord- HEY!" Coal tried to argue with Yang about receiving orders, something that he had always hated as a soldier, that was until Blake yanked him away and into the hall.

"You are such a child sometimes." Blake commented unable to hide the smile gracing her face. Regardless of how immature and childish her boyfriend could be, she actually adored how much fun he could have just by being himself. This personality had started to rub off on her as well. What she first thought as annoyingly immature actions had evolved into a fun and joyful experience that she would saver for as long as she could. Having spent most of her childhood fighting for Faunus rights, Blake grew up to be quiet the serious person with a very dry sense of humour. Coal, after a prolonged exposure to his personality, had changed that for the better.

"One of us needs to know how to have a bit of fun every now and again." Coal teased letting his girlfriend drag him around. It was something he was starting to get used to.

"Oh, and just what is that supposed to mean?" Though she looked offended, Coal could see in Blakes eyes that she was ready for another round of teasing quips.

"Oh, don't you two start…" The voice of Weiss entered of the loud music as she approached the two. "There is enough of that stuff going around already thanks to Jaune and Pyrrha."

"What?" Both Coal and Blake gasped looking around the sea of bodies and eventually spotting the two in question. Both were situated in the centre of the dance floor with their arms wrapped around each other looking very… Intimate.

"Why does Jaune have a black eye and broken nose?" Blake asked looking confused more by the injuries that the fact that Jaune was dancing with Pyrrha.

"I think I overheard something about Ruin and advice?" Weiss commented getting an evil laugh from her twin brother. "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing… I had no input into this what so ever." Coal whistled innocently and fooling no one.

"Coal…"

"Fine… I may have asked Ruin to return the favour of me babysitting his daughter by passing on some advice I gave him a while back." Coal shrugged getting more questioning looks. "Pyrrha wouldn't have made a move and Jaune is too dense. It reminded me of Myth and Ruin so…"

"You had Ruin punch Jaune in the face and labelled that as dating advice?" Blake deadpanned. For some reason, she wasn't exactly surprised that Coal would do such a thing.

"It worked, didn't it?" Coal defended looking hurt that his advice had worked not only once but two out of three attempts. The remaining time he had tried the same thing with Ironwood and Glynda… That didn't work out as planned.

"Not the point." Both Weiss and Blake groaned.

* * *

Coal needed to take a break after possibly the longest two hours of his life. Taking the stairs to the roof to escape from the music, which as time went on only grew slower and more romantic, Coal relished in the cool breeze of the night sky and let out a relaxed breath that he had been needing for a long time now. While he himself was not particularly enjoying the evening, Blake, despite her original idea about not attending, was loving it. Coal only put on a face so that he wouldn't end up ruining the evening for his girlfriend. He was starting to wonder just how much of a sappy person he had become.

"Needed a break too?"

Coal turned around to see that Jaune had appeared to have the same idea that he had and removed himself from the dance in need of some fresh air.

Smiling Coal turned back and looked up towards the night sky.

"Yeah… No. Dancing isn't exactly my scene. Though it does appear to be yours."

"Seven sisters." Jaune stated taking up a spot next to his best friend.

"Figures. Regardless, congratulations on sweeping Pyrrha off her feet." Coal chuckled pulling out a small hip flask and two shot glasses, handing one to Jaune he poured both of them a drink before hiding the flask back in his coat.

"I thought you quit?" Jaune questioned remembering the last time Blake caught Coal stealing a drink. Needless to say, that Blake solidified her reputation as one of the most skilled fighters among their group of friends that day.

"What Blake doesn't know won't hurt her." Coal grinned. "And besides, rules are made to be broken."

"I really don't think she will see it that way.

"I'll deal with the consequences at the time." Coal chuckled along with his best friend as they both threw back the liquor. "So, you and Pyrrha? Want to tell me how that happened?"

"Not really much to tell." Jaune shrugged.

"Don't give me that excuse." Coal groaned taking the empty glasses and placing them inside the jacket of his suit for safe keeping. "I heard you had a run in with an old friend of mine."

"Yeah… Though I really don't understand what it meant." Jaune answered. "What kind of advice was that anyway, a threat to stay away from your sister or something?"

"Jaune, as your best friend, I have every right to comment on your complete devotion to my sister. Heck if I had my way, she would be all yours. She needs someone as honest caring as you in her life. That being said, the way she is now, you were just gonna keep hurting yourself pursuing her."

"I know, you've told me this countless times." Jaune sighed shaking his head. "You've only been dating Blake for a month and now you're an expert on relationships."

"More like an expert on human phycology but who's keeping track of my qualifications…" Coal mumbled.

"Brag."

"Yeah just a bit." Both teens laughed lightly. "But in all seriousness, you and Pyrrha would make a good match."

"Is that your expert opinion?" Jaune asked sarcastically unable to take the matter seriously.

"Tell me how you two ended up here together."

"Well after getting checked out by the nurse, Pyrrha stayed with me the whole day to make sure that I was okay. She still needed to pick out a dress for tonight so she basically dragged me around Vale the whole day to find one."

"So, she took you dress hunting to get your opinion?" Coal pieced the explanation together quickly. Jaune remained silent for a few moments until his eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh, so that's what she was doing…"

"Only just noticed?"

"Shut up!"

"So, continue?"

"Yeah sure, so after a while, and by that, I mean a really long while."

"No man should ever suffer a woman on a shopping spree." Coal silently let out a pray for any man who ever got roped into that hell.

"Agreed, so after a really long while, she finally settled on the dress she's wearing now, because… Well…"

"Come on man spill the beans already."

"I may have let it slip that I thought that she looked beautiful in that dress…"

Silence followed Jaune's honest outburst.

"That's it?" Coal asked. Jaune could have sworn that by the tone of his best friend's voice that he was expecting something more. "So, you call her beautiful and now you two are dating?"

"WHAT? NO!" Jaune quickly corrected. "Well after that embarrassing moment and maybe half an hour of awkward silence, we eventually started talking again and before we even realised it, the dance was about to start. I was having fun talking with her and since we had basically been together the whole day, why stop there? I may have mentioned that it would be fun to go to the dance together since we seemed to have a lot of fun during the day and she agreed. There isn't anything more than that. I guess I was lucky that she didn't have a date by the time I asked…"

"You do realise that she probably thinks of this as a date right." Coal spoke in a serious tone as to ensure that Jaune knew that he was not teasing him at that particular moment. When Jaune looked unconvinced, Coal continued. "You help her pick out a dress that she wanted your opinion on, you compliment her on her looks as well as telling her that you had fun spending the entire day with her and to top it all off you then suggest that you to should continue being together and go to the dance together where you to were just slow dancing to The Calling – Where ever you will go. Which by the way is one hell of a move on your part."

"And how does that imply that there is something going on between us?"

"Dude…" Coal shook his head in utter disappointment. "You don't even see how smooth your being."

"We're just friends having fun at a school dance. What else is there?"

"For the love of… She is into you!" Coal dropped the bomb having finally lost his patience. Now Coal was a very patient person, he had Angel and her childishness to thank for that, but there were some things that would always push him over the edge. People denying what was right in front of them was one of those things. "Honestly mate you should see the way she looks at you, and your ass, when you to are together. How can you not see that?"

Coal turned on his heel and walked away fed up with his best friend's idiocy. He thought that getting Ruin to pass on the same advice he had given to him would be enough to get Jaune to even consider his partner as a potential girlfriend, but no. The knight was too thick headed to even see that he was playing with Pyrrha's heart without even realising it.

"I'll make you a deal Jaune." Coal said stopping at the doorway to the roof getting the attention of his best friend who had turned rather silent after having a bomb dropped on him. "Spend the rest of the evening with Pyrrha and see for yourself. If you come out of the event one hundred percent sure that there is nothing and never will be nothing between you two, then I will not only do every piece of homework you get for every class, every year we are here but I will also put in a good word for you with my sister.

"But if you think for even a second that maybe, just maybe, you could grow to see Pyrrha in a way that means more to you than just the friendship you have now. Then you will publicly announce to the school that I am an amazing detective slash genius."

"Brooklyn nine nine?"

"At least someone gets my references." Coal smirked childishly. "So, do we have a deal or not?" Coal asked holding out his right hand. Jaune, who really couldn't see a downside to the bet, took the hand and shook it firmly.

"Deal."

From an adjacent rooftop, a young woman giggled to herself from behind her mask bearing the number ten. She found it utterly hilarious that the person that she once knew as the number 7 who worked and fought alongside her on the battlefield would belittle himself to pulling schemes as pathetic as this one.

She remembered the boy who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Remembered the child who brought down an entire branch of the White Fang where there were no remaining survivors alone without killing a single person himself. A night that was never spoken of again by anyone among the white fang or the executioners as out of the 72 members that had the misfortune of being at that particular outpost that day… Each one had taken their own life not more than 7 days later.

That was the person she longed to see again, not this… Thing he had become. So happy and caring. There was almost no shred of evidence that he was the same person he once was.

Almost.

"So, you are alive." The woman turned around to see Ruin, barer of the number 5 standing behind her looking very pissed off. "Care to explain how?"

"Can ghosts be killed?" Was the only answer that Ruin got in return.

"I don't know what you are up to, nor do I want to interrupt what should be a meaningful night between the Runt and his girlfriend, when I _should_ be at home with my fiancée and daughter watching crappy tv… But if it means putting you down for good, I'll gladly kill you right now." Ruin glared angrily at the young masked woman ready for a fight. He didn't even get to take one step before the girl phased out of existence and re-appeared right behind him.

"You should remind Coal that those who make deals with devils, always end up losing their soul in return." She giggled phasing out of existence once more leaving Ruin with some parting words. "Eventually, I'll come and collect what I'm owed."

* * *

Eventually, after spending a few extra minutes teasing Jaune, Coal managed to build up the confidence to return to the dance. The reason why he needed the extra boost… Blake. While the first month of their relationship had been a major highlight of his life, it didn't take Coal long to sink back into doubt. When she opened the door earlier that night, Coal knew at that point that he was punching well above his weight.

He picked her out of the crowd almost instantly. Mainly because the bow was a dead giveaway but even still, she had this way of drawing his attention. Blake was quiet simply captivating and tonight she was even more so. And she knew it too. She would always find a way to make Coal squirm under physical contact. Being a male, Coal couldn't help but give into certain desires and thoughts. Thoughts that Blake knew exactly how to entice and make him question exactly why he was restricting their relationship.

Because he didn't want to hurt her.

It was only that reason. He didn't want to jump the gun and do something he might end up regretting. Weiss was right, he was and always will be a one and done kind of person so for Coal to step into that kind of physical relationship which Blake was wanting, it would me that he would be devoting himself solely to Blake for the rest of his life. Weiss knew it and would sometimes tease him about how sentimental he could be, to which Coal would be unable to argue as he himself knew it too.

Which is where he doubted himself. What if it was all just teenage hormonal attraction? What if they had that one argument that would split them up? How would he process that breakup? Would he once again fall into the pit of depression or stay the way he was now? There were so many questions that Coal just couldn't answer. Without answers that Coal couldn't research to find, he submitted to the doubt. Thus, realising that he had one of two choices.

Commit all the way, breaking the rules that they set to begin with as well as his own life policies.

Or,

Break it off fearing the worst.

"Why do you look so down Coal?" Coal looked left to see Sun standing beside him smiling. "Wow I haven't seen that look in a while, what's up?" Coal cursed at the realisation that he must have zoned out and started glaring at everything like it was something he needed to either solve like a puzzle, or shoot.

"Doubts." Coal's one-word answer was more than enough detail.

"Blake?"

"Yeah."

"Want some advice?"

"From a criminal? Sure, why not."

"At least your sense of humour isn't the problem." Sun chuckled jabbing Coal in the side and getting no reaction. Sometimes Coal could be a perfect statue. Typical soldiers. "Stop thinking so much."

"Your advice sucks."

"I could punch you in the face if you like."

"You do remember the last time you tried that right?"

"Yep, that's why I didn't do it… Look the point is you treat everything like a puzzle that needs to be solved. No person alive can solve the mystery of relationships so don't even try." Sun reminded looking relatively smug. "I've known you a long time Coal, don't think I don't know a thing or two about how you think."

"Three years? Has it really been that long?"

"Yeah… You were a mess back then. None of these guys would recognise you the way you are now if they met the old you, but I knew that guy too and let me tell you that right now, you are acting like you did three years ago when you met me. Questioning every little action, every minor detail through the words I used to justify a reason to execute me on the spot and do you know why? Because you are afraid of the things that you don't know. You are terrified of the unknown and being with Blake, well she's the biggest unknown you've come across. Am I right?"

"I really hate you Sun." Coal sighed knowing that the Faunus was right. "You do know that right."

"Of course!" Sun grinned just to annoy the human even further. He knew that Coal knew he was right and was just being grumpy and not admitting it. "That's why we work so well together. You hate me and I do everything in my power to drive you crazy."

"You don't drive me crazy."

"But Blake does." The silence that followed spoke volumes. "You actually lo…"

"Don't you start with that either. I get enough of those proclamations from Weiss."

"But you do, don't you?"

"I refuse to comment on the subject."

"So, if I was to stroll up to Blake right now and start dancing with her, how would you react." Coal's low growling voiced his answer. "There you go, you'd get angry, jealous even and why? Because, you…"

"Damn it Sun." Coal huffed walking away from the boy who started laughing uncontrollably. Coal made a b line straight for Blake who was currently dancing with Yang and he was mad. Not at Sun, mainly because the Faunus had some valid points, but rather at himself for being such an idiot. Why had he denied it for so long? He had called out Jaune for being an idiot and not spotting the obvious not moments ago and here he was guilty of the same offence. It was slightly embarrassing really that Sun of all people picked it up so easily.

Blake noticed the way Coal walked up to her. for reasons she couldn't explain she found it rather intriguing. She had never before seen the look that he held in his eyes that reminded her of someone forcing themselves to commit to something before they lose their nerve and back out. it was rather cute to see Coal with that look.

When Coal reached her, all those thoughts left her as he offered her his hand requesting the next dance. For the first time, Blake saw Coal as a true gentleman rather than the child she had grown to adore. The change was a welcome one indeed.

Weiss smiled as she watched her twin dancing around with his girlfriend. She had never seen her twin with that look on his face. she could have sworn that at any moment now, Coal would admit to his deep feelings towards the Faunus. Weiss recognised it instantly, to her, Coal could be read easily. Despite all the lies and dishonestly between them, the twins always knew what the other was feeling. Right now, Weiss could tell that her twin was deeply in love with the Faunus and had been for some time. Not that he would voice it himself. Coal always was the more stubborn one.

"Hey." Weiss looked up to see Neptune standing above her looking rather nervous. "Is err… This seat taken?" He asked looking at the empty seat next to her. Weiss rolled her eyes and nodded giving the blue haired teen her permission to sit next to her. It wasn't as if there were no other spaces, rather, out of the dozens of empty seats around the hall, they were furthest from the dance floor.

Now Neptune was fairly confident in himself. Though now he felt himself lost for words. The only reason why he turned down Weiss in the first place was because he couldn't dance and now he was getting one of the harshest silent treatments of had ever received.

Weiss paid no attention to the boy who was now looking even more nervous having realised how little attention the girl gave him. She was consumed by confusion and anger over his presence. Why would Neptune now want to talk to her after such a quick rejection?

"So…" Neptune started awkwardly. If one thing was certain, Weiss was not looking forward to small talk.

"What do you want Neptune? I don't have all night."

"Right, err, sorry."

"What are you sorry for? The crappy small talk or for rejecting me and then running away like a scared puppy."

"both?"

"Look Neptune, I can see you mean well, but for what it's worth… I really don't care anymore." Weiss sighed noticing Jaune dancing with his team, or more so, Pyrrha. Weiss didn't know why, but for some reason, seeing the knight so close to someone other than her made her heart sink. "You had your chance, and missed it."

Weiss abruptly stood from her seat, storming over to Ruby who stood awkwardly by the punch bowl looking very much out of place and character. "Come on, you and I are going to dance!"

"Weiss I… Whaa!" Ruby was given no say in the matter and thus was forced onto the dance floor with her partner. Leaving a rather confused Neptune alone in the corner.

* * *

It took Ruby a long time to escape the needy clutches of her partner. after escaping for a few moments of peace and quiet, Ruby stepped outside and into the cool refreshing breeze under the night sky only to spot a figure moving across the buildings close to the school and took it upon herself to follow said figure.

After retrieving her scythe from her rocket locker, Ruby followed the figure up into the communications tower where she passed at least a dozen guards, all of which had been knocked out by some intruder. After checking to make sure that the down soldiers were still alive, thankfully they all were, Ruby took the elevator up to the top floor of the Coms tower.

Her first steps out of the elevator were rather clumsy and awkward. Ruby had never worn heels before so she was no used to them nearly as much as Weiss who fought in them on a daily basis, Ruby would have to ask said Schnee later for details on exactly how Weiss could manage such a task. One thing Ruby took note of upon leaving the elevator and walking among the man terminals that allowed students to not only access the schools network for academic purposes, but also call home, was that the entire floor seemed rather too quiet.

She wanted to call out. to ask the empty air if anyone was truly there but something stopped her as in that long moment from when she first stepped out of the elevator, Ruby's first thought was ' _what would Coal do?'._

For starters, Coal wouldn't announce his presence to any sort of threat. Ruby knew the soldier well enough to know that the first thing he would do is assess the layout of the room. After spending so much time trying to avoid him after she had accidently killed him, Ruby had started to pick up a few things on how Coal moved around the school. How he thought. Whenever he entered a new room, the first thing he would always do was check who was in the room and how they were armed with a quick scan of his eyes. Ruby concluded that currently, if there was anyone in the room with her, that they were hidden and presumably, because they were intruding and didn't want to be seen, were probably armed as well. With what she didn't know, leaving the second part an uncertainty and thus a need to be cautious.

Fact number two. Coal had this nasty little habit of moving around almost silently. Even while wearing combat boots. Ruby had no idea how such a feat was possible, much like fighting in heels, but realised that should a fight start between herself and whoever was here, she would be at a major disadvantage due to the inaperturate footwear. So off come the heels. Moving in bare feet would also be quieter so maybe she could get the drop on whoever was there.

Kicking off her heels was the best part of the night for the young huntress.

Fact number three. Coal would never show fear.

That one was difficult for Ruby. She was only fifteen, the youngest by far and by no means was she the best fighter at the school. Coal had seen to scraping away her self-confidence both on the airship when he questioned her commitment to being a full-fledged huntress, and through the many training sessions that she had been dragged into without a choice. She never won a single spar, she never even managed to score a single hit on the boy before her aura had been reduced to zero through an exploding sword or being forced to the ground through gravity bullets or paralysed from lighting bullets or… Well the list of her defeats was endless. Ruby had started to question whether or not she was fitted to be a huntress. After all, she had accidently killed one of her friends. Regardless of whether or not he was brought back though medical technologies, she still ended his life. And yet, she still remembered his words from back when they went of their first mission together. When she was ordered to shoot him in the head.

' _You didn't take the shot this time. But someone will put you in that position again. When you are forced to make a choice between ending someone's life and sparing it, will you be able to take the shot? Your still young Ruby, so remember that no matter what choice you make, if you kill a person or spare them, will you be able to live with that choice? It doesn't matter about orders, it will always be your choice that decides when one's life ends.'_

She had no idea that such a simple innocent choice could dictate the outcome of one's life. That moment, when she pressed the button that activated his shock collar, would haunt her for as long as she would live. She never intended to hurt anyone much less kill them. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a huntress. After all, she couldn't even apologise to him for making such a choice.

"Good…"

Ruby jumped at the giggling voice that echoed around the room like some kind of phantom hovering behind her.

"You're afraid…"

The voice giggled again setting Ruby into a panic.

"Who are you!" She yelled gripping her scythe tightly in both hands ready to throw down with whatever came her way.

"Oh, so you don't know me… Such a shame… And here I thought that the Runt would have spoken of me…" More giggling followed the echo. Ruby couldn't be certain but it seemed as though that the voice was coming from inside her own mind. "Hmm… No… You don't seem to have any memories of the Runt ever mentioning me…"

"Who are you!" Ruby yelled again. she backed up slightly getting closer to the elevator doors and the walls around them when she felt something in front of her. or more like someone.

From out of thin air, a figure wearing a black coat phased into existence mere inches in front of her. Ruby's breath was taken away, not figuratively but physically. The figure had reached out and with their right hand which was covered from shoulder to fingertip in a black metal claw that wrapped around her neck and started squeezing. Ruby felt herself rise off the ground as the figure lifted her by her neck, choking the life out of her, and the only thing that they young huntress was able to do was grip onto the arm of the person trying to kill her. though she still kept a firm grip on the pole of her scythe.

She could use it to break out of the figures grip.

The scythe was too long to use as the large pole arm that it was but the sniper was just short enough to do some damage and possibly break out of the grip. All she had to do was pull the trigger.

"You can't do it can you…" The figure giggled. Only then Ruby noticed the lack of a face. rather what she was able to see, was a mask engraved with the mark of an 'X'. "You know what… I've seen that expression you're wearing before… Yes… on that damn Runt when I tried to take his body… Ha that face is always priceless… Knowing that there is nothing you can do but just wait until this is all over… Not knowing if I'll let you go… or squeeze just a little… Bit… Harder…"

As the last of Ruby's air was cut off. she began to wonder just if she really was going to die. Was this really how she was going to go out. choked to death by some random psychopath. Not really the best way to go out. Ruby cursed herself. She should have just gone to professor Ozpin when she found the unconscious solider instead of trying to prove to herself that she was better than the rest. Who was she kidding, for once she just wanted to prove herself better than Coal. She remembered when Professor Ozpin recited his record from the military, Coal was perfect in every measure. It was like he could never make a mistake. Even the teachers loved him, well maybe besides Glynda but even the headmasters right hand woman acknowledged his strength. Everyone just seemed to like Coal. he was popular with the Faunus around the school despite his Schnee heritage. How could Ruby compare to that?

She realised that she simply couldn't.

So, she dropped the scythe and held onto the arm that strangled her as tightly as she could. Hoping that someone else could save her.

"Are you about done?" The figure twisted her neck to look just behind her where another masked female was leaning over a terminal. "We are done here."

"Aww… But I'm having so much fun…"

"Then I'll let you finish up. Return to the south East when you're done."

"Understood…" The woman with the 'X' on her mask giggled further as the second woman leaped out of the window and disappeared into the night. "Now where were-"

*DING*

The elevator doors opened for the general of the Atlas military James Ironwood. He needn't take a single step before he had already drawn his gun and started firing at the masked woman choking the huntress.

The woman dropped Ruby as quickly as she could though despite releasing her own grip, Ruby's held tight for a second longer as the first bullet grassed the woman on the left shoulder. Drawing blood. However, as the second and third shots came, Ruby's hold on the woman loosened and left altogether. The bullets passed through the woman as if she was a ghost before she then phased out of existence just as she appeared, giggling like an innocent child.

Ironwood tried to talk to Ruby, to find out what she knew about the woman that just attacked her, but Ruby didn't hear a word the general said. All she heard was that giggling woman's voice in her head as it continued to mutter

"Tell Coal… That it's time to made due on our deal… The Runt needs to pay up what he owes me… Tell him that… Wont you… Wont you… Wont you…"

"Yes… I'll tell him…" Ruby muttered to herself. Not that she noticed but Ironwood looked afraid. Very afraid as he held the scroll to his ear and placed a call.

"Ruin! The bitch is alive! Get your ass over here and bring Lucian, we have injured!"

* * *

(Song: Red – Pieces)

Coal had no idea what was happening to Ruby as the night continued on for him and Blake. They danced to song after song, never wanting the night to end and only growing closer as the songs continued.

By now, most of the students had left and returned to their rooms either bored or exhausted but not the human and Faunus couple. Blake rested her head on Coal's shoulder with her arms wrapped around his neck while he himself held Blake close with his own hands on each side of her waist as another song started, causing Coal to chuckle lightly to himself.

"What?" Blake giggled unintentionally. She loved to hear his rumbling laughter.

"It's nothing… Just, I know Weiss has something to do with this song playing."

"Why do you say that?" Blake sighed listening to the soft tune of a piano and violins playing in perfect harmony with an acoustic guitar.

"Would you believe me if I told you that this song playing right now is my favourite song." Coal spoke softly resting his check on his girlfriend's head in-between her ears. Blake could get used to him being there. She found it slightly comforting that he seemed to slot perfectly in the gap.

"Oh please, you have the worst taste in music I ever heard. All that shouting and growling isn't what I'd call music. This is."

"I knew you wouldn't believe me…" Coal sighed listening to what was in fact his all-time favourite song. It was then that he had the idea to sing softly into his girlfriend's ears along with the song in perfect pitch.

 _I'm here again, a thousand miles away from you_

 _A broken mess, just scattered pieces of who I am_

 _I tried so hard_

 _Thought I could do this on my own_

 _I've lost so much along the way._

Blake couldn't fathom the amount of emotion that Coal sang with. His singing voice, that she had only heard once before, captivated her. It was as if she was finally hearing a voice deep within Coal's soul, a voice that he hardly ever let out, emerge and spread its wings and with it, an angelic voice.

 _Then I see your face, I know I'm finally yours._

 _I find everything, I thought I lost before._

 _You call my name, I come to you in pieces._

 _So, you can make me whole._

Her. He was singing not just about her, but for her and only her. she didn't need to look up to know that right now, Coal was staring at her. Not with the dark soulless eyes that he first had when they met but instead, eyes filled with affection, longing and dare she say…

 _I've come undone_

 _But you make sense of who I am_

 _Like puzzle pieces in your eyes_

No, she couldn't. she couldn't admit to that word. Not yet at least. It was too soon, wasn't it? They had only known each other for less than a year and only dated for just under a month…

 _Then I see your face, I know I'm finally yours._

 _I find everything, I thought I lost before._

 _You call my name, I come to you in pieces._

 _So, you can make me whole._

Deep down she knew she was foolish for wanting to admit to those feeling. She wanted to keep them to herself for just a little longer. To hold off from any more advances so that both he and herself knew where they were heading. They just had to put up with the tension that had been building up since long before they started dating.

 _I tried so hard_

 _So hard_

 _I tried so hard…_

But what if that was only making things worse? He confused her deeply. Blake never expected to find something, someone, like this at beacon. She only came here in an attempt to escape her old life and make a difference another way besides hurting people. Why? Why was she now in this place slow dancing with the person she loved as he opened his heart to her.

 _Then I see your face, I know I'm finally yours._

 _I find everything, I thought I lost before._

 _You call my name, I come to you in pieces._

 _So, you can make me whole._

 _So, you can make…_

 _Me whole._

"I love you." Blake finally admitted out loud. Instantly regretting those words as soon as she spoke them.

"I love you too."


	32. Chapter 32

The Schnee Black Sheep

Chapter 32: A Grave Re-opened

* * *

When Blake awoke the next morning, she had to bury her face in the pillows to hide her smiling face. Smothering her face in the pillows only made her smile grow as she took in the scent of these heavenly objects that did not belong to her, but rather a certain human. She took in a satisfying breathe of her human's scent of charcoal and fresh paper thanking silently that with the absence of alcohol, the human held a smell that she had come to recognise instantly. She could tell straight away when he was around because of the smell she had simply grown to love.

It was then, after the second breathe, that the memories of last night flooded back to her, causing Blake to grin further and try to hide further into the soft pillows. After the dance, Blake had been escorted back to her room where she and her boyfriend intended to part ways and return to their own quarters, alone, and for the night to end there like every date they had been on beforehand... Yet, neither wanted that anymore.

She couldn't remember which one of them broke the cycle. Blake would guess that it was her fault as recently she had been feeling more... Needy. Being a Faunus, she fell under the same natural tendencies of the animal she resembled and being part cat, she would sometimes feel the same desires as a cat in heat. That and she was ready for her relationship with the human to progress and after such an outstanding evening she couldn't stop herself from making advances. Not that she received any arguments against her advances. So much for her boyfriends no sex before marriage policy.

Speaking of Coal... Where was he anyway?

The scent that Blake could smell from his bed may have been fresh but she couldn't feel the extra weight alongside her in the bed anymore, unlike when she fell asleep wrapped up in his arms earlier that night. It was a feeling she could get used to and secretly wanted to. Not that she would give him the satisfaction and tell him that of course, though she would find a way to use it to her advantage and wind him up with it. She loved all the playful jabs at one another. It was their thing.

Finally, sick of the missing body and the comforting heat that came with it, Blake rolled out of bed taking the blanket with her to cover her naked form and search for the one thing ruining her morning. If only her boyfriend could sit still for more than a few minutes. She cursed his inability to remain in one spot. During her midnight raids on her boyfriend's room with the motive of curing that damn reaction whenever he was awoken, Blake had laughed out loud more than a few times at some of the places and positions she had found Coal lying in. She was sure that every surface, every single spot in his room had been used to sleep on and that included inside his wardrobe. Blake found that one the weirdest but she couldn't help but laugh at it regardless. It was as if Coal was afraid of sleeping in the same place so constantly. She wondered if that was linked to his instinctual need to defend his sleeping form.

She only took a few steps before she found her human, lying on the sofa lightly snoring away to himself. Blake's smile returned upon seeing him with his arms crossed over his bare chest and covered modestly only by a pair of gym shorts. Even in his sleep, Coal could still look like he was solving another puzzle or studying for a major exam. She found it rather cute, how he acted all serious when he needed to when really, he was just a big kid at heart. Another thing she loved about him.

Blake never realised that she had been watching his chest rise and fall for nearly five minutes before she finally regained control over her body's movements. She remembered that his defence instinct was still a problem, despite how well it had improved over that last month, and that she could still end up getting hurt accidentally. She knew that Coal wouldn't hurt her purposefully, but it was a reflex that he simply couldn't control. She had developed a means of recognition when it came to waking her boyfriend. Every time she woke him up she had done so by running her hand through his hair softly until he awoke. Simple yet effective as over the last month, Coal gradually grew less and less aggressive when disturbed from his slumber...

It didn't take long at all for Blake to wake him up with a start. The second she caught a hair, Coal jerked awake and gripped Blake's wrist in a startled fright, his mind convinced that he was under threat and needed to defend himself. Blake often questioned internally about what kind of horrors Coal must have seen to develop such a reaction but never spoke of the subject out loud. She was confident that he would tell her when he was ready.

"Good morning to you too." Blake greeted sarcastically waiting for Coal to eventually realise that she posed him no threat what so ever. It only took a few seconds for Coals eyes to refocus and actually recognise his Faunus girlfriend. Upon which he cast an apologetic smile releasing his tight grip.

"Sorry kitten." Coal yawned rubbing his eyes clear of sleep. "What time is it?"

"Early. You should know that I get up with the sun." Blake smiled retuning to messing with his hair finding it rather relaxing for herself just as much as Coal also found it… Now that he was awake to register what was happening. "Care to explain why I woke up alone and cold." She continued to tease. Naturally, Coal caught the teasing tone in his girlfriend voice.

"Well that would be your fault there my lady, you have a nasty habit of kicking in your sleep." Coal chuckled flipping over and grabbing his girlfriend and pulling her onto the sofa and into a tight hug. Blake let him pull her down easily, she had been wanting a cuddle since she woke up. Not that it would stop her firing another shot back.

"Oh, I highly doubt it was any worse than your snoring."

"I do not snore!" Coal exclaimed looking genuinely offended.

"Aww, have I hurt your ego there Fluffles."

"I thought I told you never to call me that." Coal grumbled through his teeth. Though it was a damn sight better than the nick name Runt he had been given by his squad. Blake giggled at his irritated growling. Sometimes the human could mimic an animal almost perfectly. Sometimes she wondered if he could have been half Faunus, but she knew it was impossible. "So, are you going to tell me why you woke me up at the crack of dawn?"

"Like I said, I got cold."

"You sure that's not because of the lack of clothes?"

"What did happen to my dress anyway?"

"I don't know... I only found my suit jacket and that was because I tripped over it when I went to the bathroom. I have yet to stumble upon the rest of it. "

"I can't believe we did that last night!" Blake giggled snuggling into her boy's shoulder and taking in a long breath of his scent first hand. "You performed well for your first time. How did that even happen anyway?"

"I have no idea... One second we are standing in front of your door, next we are in here doing it like they do on the discovery channel." Coal shrugged ignoring the roll of the eyes Blake gave him and his terminology. "I'm going to blame you though."

"No, no, no... Only partly my fault. You need to take some of the blame."

"I'll accept some of it, only some. Like, thirty percent-"

"Thirty percent!" Blake laughed slapping his chest just hard enough to make him flinch. "That's it, you're not getting anything more from me."

"Well, that also means that you're cutting yourself of just as well as me... Now which of us do you think will cave first? You, the one who started it last night, or me, who has a fisherman's patience and is in control of your endless supply of fresh, home cooked fish caught by that very same person?" Coal grinned knowing that he had struck a nerve. One thing he had learned about his relationship with Blake was that it was built upon a series of playful jabs and a competitiveness over making the other give in over petty little things. But taking away Blake's supply of fresh fish hand caught, gutted and cooked by himself, Coal had Blake dead to rights.

Blake glared at Coal thinking it over for a second. Weighing over the options in her head before finally coming to a decision and rolling off the sofa, managing to maintain her modesty by keeping the blanket tightly wrapped around her as she walked away from the boy who couldn't tear his eyes away from her as she headed straight for the bathroom. More specifically the shower. When she reached the door, Blake took one cheeky look back to make sure that Coal was still staring at her before dropping the blanket, showing off all her curves before disappearing around the door frame, leaving a very confused and slack jawed Coal staring at the empty doorframe as the sound of the shower started running in the background.

"You coming or what Fluffles?" Blake called out over the sound of the water. Coal didn't need a second invitation.

* * *

As it turned out, only being one door down from her boyfriend was actually quite useful when it came to committing to the walk of shame. After their joint shower, Blake redressed herself in the dress that she wore to the dance last night and made her way back to her own room figuring that the rest of her team would already be at breakfast so that she could quickly change into her usual attire before heading out on her first official mission with the rest of team RWBY.

Fortunately, she stumbled in on both Yang and Weiss who were too distracted to bombard her with questions as they were currently too worried over their team leader who had yet to return from a meeting with the headmaster over something that transpired last night that Ruby would not speak about.

Yang and Weiss tried to fill Blake in with what little information they knew; just a rumour that had already spread around the school that someone broke in and attacked a student in one of the towers' higher floors. And judging from the bruise around Ruby's neck that Weiss had caught the young huntress trying to hide, they had a pretty good idea which student had been the victim.

"When I find who did this in gonna bash their head in!" Yang promised thumping her fists together once the situation had been explained to the Faunus who had showered once again and changed into some more comfortable clothes. Blake felt slightly bad that she was relieved that the attention wouldn't be on her rather questionable state of return.

"But who would go out of their way just to break into a school for training huntsmen and huntresses?" Blake asked trying to keep a level head on that matter. "It doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

"Or me. There's something going on here and I don't like it." Weiss agreed only half listening to her friends talking. For reasons she could quite pin her mind on she couldn't get the image of the bruise from Ruby's neck out of her mind. It was as if she had seen it somewhere before and couldn't quite remember where. "I never should have let her go outside alone last night."

"It's not your fault." Yang countered quickly shutting down the Schnee's remorse before it grew too far. "It was the bastard that started this, and when I find the little fucker I'm going to kill him."

"Not that I don't agree with you Yang but we need to think about this properly." Blake spoke calmly. "I say we wait for Ruby and let her explain exactly what happened. Maybe she can shed some light on this whole thing."

"And what do you suggest we do in the mean time?" Yang growled looking incredibly fierce. "Sit on our asses and do nothing?"

"No that's not what I-"

"She's right Yang." Weiss agreed with Blake again. "We have no information to go on. We can't even get into the tower to have a look for any clues as to who ever broke in and attacked Ruby. We may as well just wait for her to come back."

Yang didn't like the idea but gave into her friend's suggestion and sat back down on her bed. Folding her arms and pouting in silence the whole time.

Weiss understood the blonde's anger and frustration at finding out that her sibling had been attacked and injured. Weiss often needed to conceal her own frustration whenever her twin returned from deployment with the military sporting a new bandage or masking a wound he had received along the way. He always assumed that he was rather clever at hiding his scars and injuries but Weiss knew every single time that he had been hurt at some point. Whether it was from training or being out in the field she didn't know for sure but her twin had been hurt none the less and went out of his way to cover it up, much like Ruby had done earlier that morning.

"Coal…" Weiss whispered as she started to remember where she had seen that type of bruise before. "Coal had a bruise just like that once."

"Think it could be from the same person?" Yang asked perking up at the chance for some information regarding the person who hurt her sister.

"It seems like a bit of a long shot to me." Blake commented trying not to get Yang's hopes up and send her on a rampage looking for someone who possibly was innocent. At least in this circumstance. "Anyone could have given both of them that type of bruise."

"But how many people have hands in the shape of claws?" Weiss asked rhetorically. "I know what I saw. The one Ruby has looks exactly the same as the one my brother had not that long ago. There's a good chance it could be the same person."

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go interrogate that some bitch!" Yang jumped up full of energy. "Where is he now Blake?"

"Why would you think I would know?" Blake asked trying to appear innocent in front of her friends, teammates and roommates.

"You spent the night in his room, right?" Yang shrugged stifling a cheeky, knowing smirk. "And I highly doubt you slept on his couch last night, did you?" She continued to imply. Blake remained silent as she could. Catching a quick glance at Weiss who was staring at her in utter disbelief and a disgusted look in her eyes yet she still sported a clear childish smirk learned from the very boy that the Faunus had spent the entire night with.

"You slept with my brother!" Weiss yelled trying to sound disgusted and angry yet relishing in the fact that she now had a whole new set of material to tease her twin with and make him squirm with embarrassment. However, deep down she also felt happy for her twin that he was that serious about his relationship with Blake. For one, Weiss knew all too well that the only reason that Coal only made the rule of 'no sex before marriage' as a means to try and keep his ex-fiancée Orchid off of him. But over time that restriction turned into a devotion, eventually Coal felt as if he was saving himself for the right person rather than trying to stay away from the wrong one.

"Does it count if we went to bed together and then he moved to the sofa while I was asleep?" Blake mumbled blushing a vibrant crimson red. This was exactly the conversation she was afraid of having but at the same time she wanted to talk to someone about the step that she and Coal took in their relationship. "Hey! Weren't you going to find Coal and _'Interrogate that some bitch?'_ " Blake asked hoping to change the subject. She could wait to have this conversation until later.

Yang glared at her partner deciding between the two but in less than a second decided to rush out of the room and locate Coal hopefully inside his room. Leaving Blake alone with the sister of the boy she had slept with last night.

"Don't think you've dodged that bullet. We are going to talk about this later." Weiss assured folding her arms and glaring at Blake. "Just… Just try not to hurt him okay?"

"What?" Blake stared back confused by the sudden change in Weiss' tone. She now sounded overly concerned.

"I don't know what you're thinking about right now, but if what I really don't want to think about what happened last night actually happened last night, damn that was hard to say, but if it did, then Coal must be pretty serious about this relationship. He has this rule that he lives by that mainly was made for Orchid's case but he kinda started to believe in regardless, no sex before marriage. I just need to know that you feel the same way."

Blake didn't know how to respond at first. She originally thought that Coal made up that rule only to wind her up in some way… Which it did slightly, not that Blake would ever admit to that. But with Weiss now stating that it was true, Blake was now fully aware that their relationship hadn't just taken a step forward but a giant leap. Suddenly she was scared of what was to come between her and the human.

"Err… I-" Blake started only to be cut off from the bedroom door crashing open and a tumbling body of her boyfriend rolling into the centre of the room and landing face down in a heap taking both Weiss and Blake by surprise. "Why are you shirtless?" Was the only thing the Faunus could bring herself to say upon see her boyfriend again without a shirt. A sight she was happily getting used to.

Unfortunately, she didn't get an answer as Yang stormed in soon after, stomped right up to Coal, flipped him over, extended her shotgun gauntlets over her arms and shoved the barrel right into Coal's face.

"Start talking!" The blond brawler threatened menacingly. She knew all too well how to handle the alpha male types. And knock some sense into them when they needed it.

Coal looked at the barrel of the weapon barely an inch away from the spot in between his eyes. Definitely not the first time he had been threatened like this nor did he expect it to be the last. While Yang did have a scary side to her, one that Coal actually held as one of the blonde's better qualities. In good spirits, Coal appeared mildly scared of the blond while she held the barrel to his head even though he was used to the experience and threw his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay…" Coal calmingly spoke. "Blake and I did sleep together last night."

"EW! That is not what she, or anyone else for that matter, wanted to know you dolt!" Weiss yelled slapping Coal upside the head trying to get rid of the disgusted thoughts rushing through her mind. "She wanted to know how you got that bruise on your neck the last time you came home before we headed here." Coal dropped his hands and glanced confusingly around the room.

"What bruise?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Weiss scolded. "I know you think I'm stupid enough to believe that you don't get hurt working for the military as a… well whatever it is you really do. But for once just tell me the truth. How did you end up with a claw shaped bruise on your neck?" Coal released a deep sigh realising just how stupid it had been trying to conceal the injury from his sister. She seemed pretty hurt the last time they talked about his involvement with the military.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes, we do!" Yang growled nudging him with the barrel of the gauntlet. "Now start talking!"

"Fine… I got it in a fight with someone. Happy?"

"Details! Who, when, why?"

"I feel like I should be asking why you want to know this information." Coal changed to a harsher tone and swatting the blonds fist and weapon out of his eye sight.

"Ruby had a similar bruise this morning." Weiss informed getting a confused and rather disbelieving look from her twin. "She was attacked last night. You didn't hear about it?"

"No, I… Who did it?"

"That's why we're asking you." Blake spoke flatly trying to keep a level head and pick up on any uncontrollable flickers of body language Coal let slip.

"Me? How would I know who attacked the little red runt?" Coal asked confused at his friends reasoning.

"And another thing! Why are you always so mean to her?" Yang questioned.

"I'm not mean, its character building." Coal argued. "I'm just helping her break out of her shell."

"You know she was in tears about what she did." Weiss countered. "When the accident happened."

"You mean when she pushed the button that sent a few hundred volts through my system and stopped my heart? Yeah, I remember that. If she cried about it then what can I do about it. She made a choice and now she has to live with it."

"How can you be so heartless?!" Yang barked.

"Because no matter which way any of you look at it, there is nothing I or anyone else can do to alter what happened." Coal stated. "Shit happens to everyone. She will get over it."

"Not if you keep reminding her and being a dick about it!" Weiss sided with Yang.

"Sins are not meant to be forgotten!" Coal yelled growing angry but quickly forcing it down and away before he said something he couldn't come back from. "Look, the lass that gave me that bruise is long dead so it couldn't have been her last night. I watched her die so there is no way in hell that she-"

Coal was cut off from the bedroom door once again opening from Ruby returning from her meeting with the headmaster. The three girls rushed the young team leader who paid them no attention and moved to stand in front of Coal with a darkened expression as she talked to him in a flat tone.

"Apparently you should know what this means…" She started making eye contact with the boy for the first time since the accident. "It's time you made due on your deal. You need to pay up what you owe to some woman with a mask with the letter X on it. Do you know what that means?"

Coal lowered his head as to not show his horror ridden face as he muttered quietly. "Yeah… I know what it means." The sorrow in his voice echoed around the silent room as team RWBY waited for more of an explanation. Coal let out another sigh before finally speaking up again. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this kid... It should have been me she came after."

"So, you do know who did it!" Yang said desperate to know at least the name of the person who assaulted her sister.

"Yeah… I know who she is." Coal said in a hollow voice. From the look in his eyes, he could have seen a ghost.

"Then spit it out, who is she?" Yang demanded growing further and further impatient with the boy while in turn, Blake and Weiss watched with conflicted thoughts. Both wanted to know who had assaulted their friend while at the same time didn't want to unearth a memory Coal had long wanted to leave behind. They both pieced together the meaning behind what he said earlier, about sins not being forgotten. Coal couldn't forget about his past no matter how hard he tried. But that didn't mean he hadn't wished for such a miracle.

"Classified." Was all Coal gave in response as he stood to leave. Yang stopped him by getting between him and the door. Her eyes shifting red.

"Don't give me that crap!" Yang barked. "Tell me who it is right now!"

" **I said it's classified."** Coal, or at least the boy that looked like Coal, spoke darkly. Yang watched first hand as the iris of the boy's once empty obsidian eyes gained colour and burst into a cobalt blue. Just like herself, Coal held back a fire beneath the colour change.

However, standing just behind Coal, Blake was far more concerned form what she saw on his back. A dull white glow of a broken glyph constructed of what remained of the dust embedded inside of him at the age of 10.

Coal had lied when he told her that the operation had been successful. Though there couldn't be more than a quarter of what used to be a complete glyph, now the symbol was broken, shattered from the missing elements. Yet it was plain as day that Coal could still call upon what was left.

And with it, he could channel more Grimm just like he had once shown her.

It was then that Blake finally realised what was happening to Coal. Why his eyes changed colour and also why his voice changed with it. Coal was channelling more than just a collection of Grimm. He was channelling another person. A person that he more than likely killed…

" **This is a military matter and will be handled."** Coal, or whoever was behind the wheel at the moment spoke. **"You can be assured that she will see hell soon enough."**

Coal barged passed Yang who was too stunned at the sudden change in not only his eyes but what felt like his entire aura. The rage that pulsated from his centre was enough to push the blonde brawler to the side as the boy took his leave leaving Ruby to explain in more detail what had happened.

It was a quick tale to tell really.

She left the dance for some air, spotted someone moving across some rooftops, followed said shadow up to the tower and was jumped. Ironwood interrupted just in time and less than a minute later she was surrounded by two new strangers. One baring a shoulder flask of alcohol engraved with the number 5 (V) who she later found out was Coals best friend from the squad, Ruin, and another much older gentleman in a doctor's lab coat with the number 2 (II) stitched onto the lower left side. That person had turned out to be another of Coal's squad mates called Lucian, though he had responded to another name that had been used only once during the entire time they were with her. A name that for the life of her, Ruby couldn't remember.

After that she explained what happened when she was summoned to the headmaster's office where she once again explained her story of what happened last night and told the headmaster what she knew but when it came to the part about the girl with the mask, Ruby was cut off by the general and was unable to tell the headmaster about that detail. A statement which confused the rest of her team.

"I don't get why it seems neither Coal or General Ironwood want the headmaster to know about that girl." Weiss hummed pondering the question over in her mind. She never really knew a great deal about her twin's life as a soldier but now she had more questions than she had ever had before. "Just who is she?"

"Ruby said that the only weapon she had as a claw, similar to that of a Grimm, on her right hand as well as a gauntlet." Yang described remembering her sister's story well. "Anything else you can remember sis?"

"Now that I think about it… The gauntlet reminded me of Coal's. You know, the first one he used before we upgraded it?"

"He's had that thing for years." Weiss informed. "Though now that I think about it, he only started using ice made weapons just after her joined the military…" She continued pausing to think about the situation more deeply.

"What?"

"I wonder if Coal was used to be close to her." Weiss voiced exactly what Blake was thinking silently about. "It would explain why he didn't want to get us involved if they had a bit of a falling out. Ge would know better than anyone if she is dangerous."

"So you think he's not telling us anything just to protect us?" Yang said unconvinced.

"It's more than that." Blake spoke for the first time since she had seen what remains of the dust embedded in his back. "As far as I know, Coal and his old squad are like a family. For him to have that kind of response to knowing that someone he once considered family is alive? It can't be a good relationship, especially if she gave him that bruise you mentioned before Weiss. All things considered, I doubt this will be the last time we run in to her if she is indeed after Coal."

"She said that she tried to take his body once…" Ruby mumbled recalling what information she could. Blake gave the young huntress a look that spoke of anger and betrayal. "Not in that way Blake. When she was choking me, I felt her inside my head, like she was overtaking my own mind."

"She's a ghost." A voice spoke from the doorway. The girls turned to see Coal standing in the doorway this time fully dressed in his combat gear, his gun hanging from his waist and gauntlet ready and waiting. "I'm sorry you all got dragged into this but I'm asking you all now, please, if you come across her at all, run the other way."

"NO FUCKING WAY!" Yang bellowed.

"Please." Coal spoke so softly that he almost sounded like he was begging. "Don't get involved." From behind Coal in the hallway a man patted the boy on the back as he walked by.

"Let's go Runt." Ruin said as he kept on walking. "We got a ghost to bust." Coal grinned as he followed the man away once again leaving team RWBY confused and silent.

"We aren't really going to just let this go right?" Weiss asked the team finally breaking the silence.

"Aw hell naw!" Yang grinned smacking her fists together.

"Nope!" Ruby bounced like a child.

Blake only offered a grunt and a roll of her eyes towards the Schnee who suggested something so stupid as Yang suddenly remembered that she and her sister had received a parcel from their father.

* * *

"Today we stand together, United." Professor Ozpin addressed to the first-year students of Beacon gathered in the amphitheatre. All the first-year student had been requested to attend a quick formal send off for their first official missions presented by the headmaster. The only student not standing with the rest, was Coal.

He stood in the shadows up in the rafters of the hall overlooking the whole first year student body as well as the headmaster and several teachers of beacon. Standing, or rather sitting, beside him, was his closest friend for his days as a soldier. Ruin.

"Damn does that guy ever drone on." The oldest male groaned once again drinking from the shoulder flask which bore his number. "And does he ever just shut up?"

"He may say a lot but at the same time he never says more than what is needed." Coal remarked getting a hum of agreeance from Ruin.

"Very true. He probably already knew about something or other in the south east and needed an excuse to send someone there."

"So, all I need is a mission in the south east."

"Then I fly us out there and conduct business."

"Just like old times." Coal grinned fist bumping the man. "Going behind Ironwood's back once again."

"As I have said, today we stand together. United." Ozpin continued uninterrupted from the quiet scheming from above. Little did the soldiers know that he had already spotted them long ago and presumed that they would already be planning something behind their superiors back. "But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it."

"Peace doesn't exist in this world." Ruin mumbled.

"If it did, you and I would be out of a job." Coal agreed feeling his scroll buzz. Upon checking the message, he found that Pyrrha had messaged him for some reason. And she seemed annoyed from the context of her message.

' _Where are U? U missed breakfast? Wht did U do 2 Jaune? He called U an amazing detective/genius in front of the school for no reason!?'_

Coal smirked and chose only to reply to the spartan with a simple smiley face and look around the room below him. It wasn't long before he spotted the blond and red hair colours of Jaune and Pyrrha once again standing side by side so close that their shoulders were almost touching. He could see that Pyrrha looked rather worried about Jaune, taking curious glances at the blond every so often who kept his head low and avoided eye contact with the girl as much as humanly possible. Coal smirked knowing that Jaune had made good on their little bet and respected the knight more so for taking such a big leap towards the first step in any emotional discovery.

Acceptance.

"However, no matter which path you choose," Ozpin carried on building up to his final words. "Remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

As the headmaster left the stage, Coal thumped his buddy on the shoulder before jumping down from the rafters and quietly falling into the rest of the first-year crowd unseen approaching the mission boards. Specifically, for his favourite assignments, search and destroy. He was surprised to find team RWBY already there trying to sign up for a mission in the south east already. Those girls were quick. Though disheartened when they failed to qualify for the mission because they were first years.

"I thought I told you to let this south-east business go and not get involved." Coal spoke with authority catching the girls by surprise.

"You don't get to decide what mission we go on." Yang spat back. After hearing the story her sister told about what took place last night, as well his outburst earlier, Yang once again had trouble trusting Coal. She had seen him fight enough to know that he was dangerous but now he knew a lot more information than he was willing to share. He knew who attacked her sister and refused to share it under what his twin thought to be for their sake. Yang had a sneaking suspicion that the soldier was only trying to protect himself by not getting them involved. If that were to happen, his two lives would collide and she suspected that a lot of Coal's secrets would come out into the open and reveal just who he was behind that happy go lucky childish grin that he always seemed to have.

"Doesn't matter anyway, you can't sign up for it." Coal remarked grinning.

"We could mail ourselves there!" Ruby suggested unfazed by the boy's appearance. A sight that didn't go unnoticed by anyone else. Ruby had been avoiding Coal as much as possible up until this point so why the sudden change?

Blake on the other hand was plagued with other thoughts. She had already heard a few stories about some of the people Coal had worked with in the past. She was rather looking forward to meet the rest of them at some point but after Ruby's story, she felt rather isolated. She had no idea why Coal had suddenly gone into a rage induced state after hearing about some woman from his past was still alive. She wondered why Coal had never mentioned her before and what exactly the relationship between them was.

"Well that's one option." Ozpins voice carried from behind Coal. "Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first year students." The headmaster then shared a knowing look with both Coal and Ruby before continuing. "It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that the six of you will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

"Err… Six?" Ruby asked doing a quick headcount using her fingers. She gave up after the third try having ended up with five people each time. Herself, Weiss, Yang, Blake and Coal. she hoped that the headmaster wasn't including the small lifeform tucked away inside her backpack.

"Mr. Valiant, isn't that your companion up there, drinking endlessly in the ceiling?" Ozpin smirked glancing up as did all five students, all to see the sight of a twenty five year old man without shoes dancing along the beams wearing Coal's headphones and drinking from a shoulder flask that never seemed to end.

Coal groaned and lowered his head into a hand trying to look like he didn't know the man. "I can't leave you alone for two damn seconds Ruin…" Blake recognised the name that her boyfriend had used.

"Ruin? Wasn't he your partner back in the military?" The Faunus asked recognising the man as the same one who dropped off the young girl Angel for Coal to baby sit.

"I have no idea who that man is or why he is here." Coal defended offering his usual childish grin fooling nobody and only annoying Blake further. She would not be taking any more lies no matter how little they were.

"Despite your record Mr. Valiant, I cannot permit you to undergo that assignment either, not without a full team to accompany you. Even with the added benefit of bring your, let's just say, rather entertaining friend." Ozpin smirked, he had read up on some of the missions that the two had undergone in the past and found the results rather amusing. No matter where they went, something would always end up in ruins be it building, people, landmarks or even entire villages. "And knowing your own personal record about breaking and bending rules to suit your purpose, as well as the rest of your rather… Underhanded methods." Coal could only whistle innocently in response. "Coupled with the righteous wills of team RWBY who I have no doubt in my mind would rival your devotion to breaking rules." This time only the girls could whistle innocently. Not that they were planning of going behind the headmasters back in the first place. "Why don't we just bend them right now."

Ozpin pressed a few buttons on his scroll. Only seconds went by before the mission board lit up once again to show that Team RWBY was assigned to the search and destroy mission in the south east. This action gained smiles from each of the girls.

"We won't let you down." Ruby proclaimed. "Thank you, professor."

"Do not thank me for this." The headmaster countered quickly. "Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the kingdom will not care. You need only ask Mr. Valiant to understand the truth in that." Coal opened his mouth to argue and question exactly what the headmaster meant but quickly stopped himself and looked away with a twisted expression. He knew exactly what the old man was implying. "For that matter, I am also assigning Coal as an addition to team RWBY for this mission, I understand that his… experiences, could be found useful in this particular area of assignment. Meaning that you have full superiority Ms. Rose." Ruby chuckled awkwardly at the notion. "Though the huntsman you shall be shadowing does have the authority to take command should either one of you seem unfit, ill-qualified or immature at any point of the mission duration. You could even be sent home after the first few minutes should you pose a danger to the mission, or your team."

The headmaster took his leave after his rather heavy speech. The girls, more so Ruby for being responsible for not only her team but also an extra person now, all felt like they were slightly in over their heads. Coal however merely yawned uninterested. He had heard better threats. And received far worse punishments for being unprepared for a mission.

"That wasn't exactly uplifting." Yang broke the silence as the five teens headed out to the airship Ruin had secured for the mission. While Ruby appreciated the company of someone laid back and upbeat, Coal knew that the man was only tagging along because of orders. Ironwood had ordered Coal to be monitored by someone and Ruin volunteered for that role instantly thinking that it would be the best way to ensure that the boy was safer and also able to chase after their old ghost of a teammate.

"But it's the truth." Blake agreed secretly keeping an eye on her boyfriend lagging behind the group of girls. She was still curious as to why Coal hid so much of his life from her, not that she openly revealed everything about her past willingly either, but the woman Ruby had mentioned, the one who seemed obsessed with Coal, had to mean something. But what?

"It's gonna be tough but I know we can do it." Ruby tried to keep an upbeat attitude despite the hollow air.

"Hey! Team Coffee is back!" The announcement from a random student gained the attention of the teens. Coal was the first to reach the exhausted second years who had just returned from a mission which had taken up weeks of their time.

"Vel!" Coal called out sliding to a stop right beside the rabbit Faunus. "You doing okay?"

"I'm fine, I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me." Velvet replied in a soft smile hiding her tiredness as best she could. Coal easily saw through the illusion as the others caught up with him.

"Your mission was supposed to end a week ago." Weiss stated also seeing the girl's effort to hide her tiredness. She had seen Coal with that same look far too many times after he returned from training with his squad. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened… it was just, there were just so many…" Velvet trailed off slightly before doing a complete one eighty and reaching into her bag. She pulled out a hand full of maps with some scribbles and marks, returning them to Coal. "Your maps were pretty helpful. They helped us avoid a few of the bigger packs along the way. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Coal smiled taking the maps back from the girl and placing them in his own small bag upon his back. He preferred to travel light and only had three days' worth of supplies in a small single strap bag that hung over his shoulder and covered his once family symbol on the back of his coat. "If you ever need another scouting report, I've always got one for pretty much everywhere."

Behind them, Yang had to nudge Blake to stop her low irritated growling over that stupid smile the rabbit Faunus had on her face when talking to Coal. Not to mention that Coal was too dense to realise that he could be far too nice to everyone at this school and that he would unknowingly end up lightly flirting with everyone.

"I might just need to take you up on that offer sometime." Velvet giggle, infuriating Blake even further. "You heading out on a mission as well."

"Yes." Blake answered glaring at the Faunus unintentionally. Velvet was actually a really nice girl and the two quickly hit it off as friends but Blake wasn't happy to begin with and now she was just in a worse mood. "We are."

"That's great, you first years will be just shadowing huntsmen so you shouldn't have too much to handle this time around." Velvet smiled unfazed by the glare. She knew that Coal could be too nice for his own good sometimes and only had the intention to help people. Plus, and from what she had heard about what happened between the two at the dance, she figured that Blake had no reason to be worried about Coal breaching her trust. Yet she had no idea about anything else. "You'll all be fine. I should go and catch up with my team. Enjoy your first mission!"

As the Faunus ran off to join with the rest of her team, Coal turned back around to receive a glare worthy of putting men into an early grave from his girlfriend.

"What did I do now?" Coal questioned unable to fathom what it was now.

"Nothing." Blake said flatly.

"You two aren't gonna have a domestic on this mission, are you?" A voice called out from afar.

"Shut it Ruin!" Coal launched back spotting the man by an allotment of airships which a few teams had already boarded with their huntsmen. When the teen reached the man and the ship they would be taking, they noticed some minor differences with their airship compared with the rest. For one, it was engraved with the letter (or number) V. "We're using your ship?"

"I aint flying one of those stock hunks of junk." Ruin scoffed patting his personal bulkhead. "I don't cheat on my lady."

"So, we are going to be fighting alongside a genuine huntsman and two soldiers?" Weiss asked hopefully.

"Nah, you guys only get one huntsman and half a soldier." Ruin shrugged, chuckling slightly at the small dig at his old companion. "I'm only here to watch over the Runt."

"Fuck you Rupert." Coal shot at the man.

"Don't call me Rupert you fucking Runt!" Ruin shot back.

"Don't call me Runt, Rupert!" Coal wanted to argue further, reminiscing in an old tradition before setting out on a mission with his old friend but unfortunately for him, Blake yanked on his ear harder than usual stopping him for partaking in the shouting match. Much to Ruin's joy at seeing the boy so whipped.

"So, who's our huntsman anyway?" Yang asked also enjoying the way Blake reigned in her man. Ruin checked his scroll having hacked into the academy network to find out the mission details as well as the personal his baby would be carrying.

"According to this… Professor Bartholomew Oobleck."

"AAAHCHOO!" Coal sneezed breaking out of the tight grip of his girlfriend. "Why do I smell dog?"

"Oh, that would be Ruby's dog Zwei!" Weiss gleefully bounced in place. "Her father mailed him here so that they could take care of him while he's away or something. No need to worry, he is still in the room, there might just be some dog hair on our clothes or something."

"Fair enough." Cola shrugged pulling out a tissue and blowing his nose before it interfered with his sense of smell. For someone who took pride in observation and knowing all the possible dangers around him, he never saw the small shuffling from inside Ruby's backpack containing the small bundle of fur that was indeed Zwei. "AAHCHOO! Just keep that thing away from my stuff and if I find that the mutt has been in my room, I will burn it to the ground."

* * *

So, I know it has been a long, long, long time since I updated this fic but please be patient with me you kind loving people. This chapter was super hard to write as I wanted to include so much info without getting to heavy on the info at the same time. Also, since I probably won't be getting around to a prequel any time soon here is a little snippet I've taken from Coal's days with the executioners.

Enjoy!

* * *

 _Training._

 _Day in and day out. It was all they ever seemed to do at the moment._

 _Coal, still a teenager in every right had no reason to be stuck in the simulator at his squad's HQ running basic training programs with the latest recruit. He should be out there at arcades, the beach, parks doing something other than stand and watch the latest recruit as she swiped at the holograms and robots with that claw shaped gauntlet of hers._

 _Coal would admit though, she had skills._

 _Agile and boosted with an agility to match his own both on the ground and in the air, twisting and turning around and through opponents with ease. She was still nowhere near his level but she was improving quickly. He knew he saw her untapped potential when he found her. It looked like bringing her in was a good choice after all._

" _How is she fairing up Runt?" A deep hollow voice asked from behind Coal. The boy was not surprised by his superior's appearance, he heard the man approach from a mile away as he stepped up side by side with the boy. Coal needed to mask the distaste upon smelling the horrible smell of burnt flesh from either a Grimm, animal or possible a person emitting from the man's equipment and weapon._

 _Coal looked to his left to see his superior officer by a single rank standing at attention, a stance that the man was far too comfortable in for it to be just natural. His black trench coat hanging low almost to the ground covering most of his body. Black hair cut military short and a set of deep dark blue eyes watching the latest recruit's movements with intrigue and judgment._

 _Coal also noticed that the man's hands twitched behind his back, ready to grasp the simple yet deadly scythe hanging from his back should the moment be necessary. Coal knew full well the damage that the weapon could cause. He had been on the receiving end of that blade too many times when he himself had been trained to fight by this very man when he first joined the squad._

" _She's okay. Though I really don't like how I drew the short straw on training her this week." Coal informed returning his attention to the recruit. "Maybe good enough for the mantle of our number ten?"_

" _She appears reckless." The man spoke once more in a hollow deathly tone. "Emotional, driven by something."_

" _Revenge I figure." Coal shrugged. "It's a good focus point."_

" _I taught you better than that Runt."_

" _Will you all stop calling me that name?!" Coal barked._

" _Don't like it, then do something about it, Runt." The man insulted again placing a hand on the stem of the scythe wanting, hoping that the boy would try something stupid again. Coal did no such thing, having learned that lesson of picking his fights long ago. "Revenge doesn't grant you anything bar a fast trip to seeing hell."_

" _Yeah, yeah I know." Coal sighed. "Ruin keeps reminding me."_

" _That man is right, you should consider letting go of your hate and anger sooner rather than later." The man chuckled releasing his grip on his weapon. "Heck you will never find someone to settle down with if you keep trying to scare everyone you know half to death!"_

" _Shut the fuck up Cobalt!" Coal spat at the man whose dark blue eyes only burnt with childish joy as he laughed in a low rumble. "One of these days I'm gonna kill you myself."_

" _I'd like to see you try Runt!"_

End


	33. Chapter 33

Hey guys long time no updating...

Truthfully I don't really know what happened. I was watching RWBY season 5 and when it came to like the 6th episode or something I just felt like i needed a break. Not just from RWBY but the internet in general. But I'm back online and ready to go with a new chapter. Sorry for the delay guys!

Hopefully you all had an amazing winter break and new year. Yes i know its now March but i really did try and get this chapter out weeks ago but with being away for so long i kinda lost my rhythm and ended up rewriting this chapter like 10 times or something.

Also, you can blame my sister for some of the delay... She started getting all nostalgic and we ended up watching old eps of Yugioh and Pokemon while i was visiting over some weekends. Its her fault i swear! But in doing so i've been inspired to branch out and i'm think about starting some other fics in either field. So if you guys would like something just let me know. Don't worry ill sill be updating here first, as this story has been so fun to write since its birth and I don't want it to die! But getting off my lazy ass has been a bit of an issue haha!

Regardless I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter and I hope to get another one up as soon as possible!

* * *

The Schnee Black Sheep

Chapter 33: In Memory, In Friendship, But Still Cursed.

* * *

"Why is this thing so damn loud!" Weiss yelled over the roaring engines of Ruin's personal airship. After stopping to have a quick conversation with their friends, only to be interrupted by Professor Oobleck and his tight schedule, Team RWBY plus Coal entered the airship alongside the apparent professional huntsman ready to undertake their first mission.

At least for half of team Ruby it was anyway.

While both Ruby and Blake had already been on a mission with Coal at the beginning of the year. That being said, Blake was already seeing the difference in experience between her team leader and her boyfriend's own leadership skills. While they all had a mission briefing, obtained when they signed up and accepted the mission, Coal had used the excess down time while traveling to the mission site to go over the details of the mission as well as issue a full plan as well as a fall back. Ruby had done nothing of the sort other than make sure everyone read the very vague briefing.

And then there was the pilot, Ruin. He seemed far too chilled out and laid back to be an executioner. Besides the obsessive drinking habit, Ruin was actually relatively nice and easy to get along with. But Blake knew one thing for sure, something that had been proved to her time and time again, that there was always something beneath the surface.

Having already helped to babysit the man's adoptive daughter Angel, Blake had learned a few things about the retired soldier that she pick up on straight away having met him personally. First of all, he stunk of alcohol and oil. Secondly, the man never wore any shoes and when she asked both Angel and Coal as to why, she didn't get a complete answer. Only a shrug and a half arsed theory behind the lack of footwear. Lastly, she learned that Ruin was by far the strongest of the executioners physically. Despite his skinny physique, Ruin held the record for the most weight lifted. Something that she just couldn't get her head around as every time she looked at the human she could have sworn that she could hear a quiet electronic humming running through the man's body.

"Hey don't go dissing my baby!" The piolet yelled back angrily as he lifted the aircraft higher for the short journey to south east Vale.

"Can that guy really fight?" Yang asked Coal unconvinced by sight alone. she also wondered just how good the supposed professional huntsman would fare in a fight but heeding the words of the headmaster, she neglected to ask and put the rest of the team at risk of being sent home.

"Ruin? Guy is indestructible!" Coal answered loud enough for everyone to hear taking the spot closest to the side door of the aircraft, furthest away from Ruby. For some reason she smelled like a dog and because of the smell, Coal's senses were going bonkers. His eyes were watering from an itchiness he couldn't cure and he felt as though he couldn't breathe in the stuffy aircraft. Damn allergies. "His semblance is similar to yours except he doesn't need to take hits to grow stronger. the drunker he gets, the more resistant and stronger he becomes. Kinda like how when people get drunk they think they become batman or some shit. Biggest downside to it, he's an idiot when he gets drunk." Coal said directing the last part towards his oldest friend in a playful manner. Ruin stuck up his middle finger in response.

"I still managed to hack into the militaries secure servers and activate a few missiles they said were completely safe while under the influence of many, many, MANY bottles of booze, all when I was about your age Runt!" Ruin chuckled triumphantly before trailing off quietly. "That was the offence that got me wound up in the military shit to begin with…"

"I'd still rather have the professor as back up than your drunk ass!" Coal joked. "No offence prof."

"None taken young man, I admit I do fancy myself more of an intellectual but I can assure you, as a huntsman I've had my fair share of tussles."

"Like the mushroom?"

"Those are truffles."

"Like the sprout?"

"Those are brussels."

Coal glared at the pilot who shot him a look as if to ask if the young huntress was really the one in charge. When Coal nodded in conformation, Ruin's face scrunched up in a way that said that he thought they were all fucked...

"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history, as well as dabbling in the art of archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular, assignment." The professor rambled on.

"What does history have to do with this?" Yang asked.

"Why what a preposterous question you silly girl."

"History in a manner of speaking harbours a means of teaching us why things happened the way they did. Discovering the reasons as to why something succeeded, failed, died out or survived is the very nature of what leads to further success. What we take from past events determines how we progress in the future." Coal stated once again sneezing into a tissue. When they landed he would welcome the fresh air and with it escape the coffin which contained trace amounts of Zwei hair dragged along from his sister's team. the smell was becoming unbearable and his allergies were acting up.

"Precisely Mr. Valiant. History is the backbone of our very society." The professor acknowledged. "AND THE LIVER! And probably the kidneys if I were to wager. You should read a paper submitted by someone only known by the roman numeral two, titled, 'The Forgotten Sins of our Past.' It is really quiet the treat!" all eyes fell upon Coal after hearing about the paper and its name being related to what he called his first revolver. "In the document, it breaks down the evidence and theories behind one of the kingdoms greatest failures which lies within the south east quadrant of Vale."

"Mountain Glenn." Ruby stated. They had already started discussing the topic in class just days earlier.

"That's right it was an expansion of Vale." Yang followed on racking her brain for what little information they had been taught so far. "But in the end, it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

"Correct and now it stands abandoned!" Oobleck credited with excitement. "As a dark reminder."

"And a likely place for a hideout." Blake grinned catching on with the train of thought the group was having.

"Precisely."

"It's also the home of many Grimm." Coal reminded finally speaking up again. "The surrounding area is identified as a class two red zone, meaning that its one of the more dangerous areas in the world. Originally it started out as an outpost which was planned to expand into a city of its own. The construction was never completed as the workforce was pushed far to hard and the negative energy generated from the overworked labours lured all kinds of Grimm there. Its not just a failure, it's a tomb. Home to many workers, and Faunus slaves, who died there because they were locked out of the kingdom in fear of the Grimm breaking through the defences. Those people were left to die in that wasteland. Now do you really think the world learned from that mistake, or do you think that the cycle will once again repeat itself?" Coal asked the airship only to be met with silence from everyone bar the professor of history for his rather detailed description.

"I see you have already read that paper Mr. Valiant."

"Yeah…" Coal mumbled looking away. "I read it…"

The majority of the flight rested in a heavy silence. Blake wanted nothing more than to talk to Coal and press him for more information about countless things but in such a confined place, she held onto her thoughts for when they would have a little more privacy.

So, she kept silent as the roar of the engines drew Blake and her friends closer to their first team RWBY assignment.

* * *

Coal was the last to disembark from the airship when they arrived in the abandoned city. He exchanges a quick hand sign with Ruin telling the pilot he would be on a secured radio signal if he needed him before leaping down from the bulkhead.

He landed behind the rest of the group just as the professor started to scold Ruby for not leaving her backpack on the airship. An instruction Coal had also opted to ignore.

He wanted to say something to the professor, to defend the little red runt for disobeying a simple order. He found it odd that the professional huntsmen would give such an order as it made more sense to keep at least a bare minimum of emergency supplies at all times.

But when Ruby stated that the professor had yet to tell them to listen to him, Coal doubled over in silent hysterics trying not to draw to much attention to himself. It became even harder to stay quiet when the professor actually agreed with the huntress in training. "Very well Ruby leave your bag here and we can pick it up on our return."

"Now hold up there prof." Coal cut in. Because of his attitude and marks in history class, he had developed a more professional relationship with the professor that that of a simple student and teacher, so he figured that lending a hand to defend the huntress wouldn't hurt. "I'm sure that letting her keep a few extra supplies would come in handy. Whatever is in that bag might just save our... ACHOO!"

*WOOF*

When Coal recovered from his sneezing, he took another look at Ruby's backpack and saw the very animal that was causing his senses to go haywire. Sticking out of Ruby's bag, was the head of a black and white corgi innocently yapping away and tilting its head from side to side as it watched Coal erupt into a round of allergic sneezing. Taking a few long steps away from the dog, Coal covered his mouth and nose with a cloth in a flawed attempt to mask the smell of the dog.

Ruby seemed confused about his reaction to seeing Zwei. Unlike Weiss who seemed to adore the pet, the other twin was desperately trying to avoid it. So, while the professor danced around with the dog, claiming that Ruby's idea to bring a dog that could sniff out the Grimm, Weiss took the opportunity to explain why Coal was now standing at the other end of the street far away from them.

"You didn't know, but Coal is allergic to dogs." Weiss said to Ruby with a harmless smile. "Hey Frosty, you okay over there?" She yelled across to her twin who held up a middle finger in response. "See he's fine. He was always more of a cat person anyway."

"Excuse me?" Blake questioned shooting Weiss an irritated look. Even though she had been told about his allergy, Blake never even thought about it when Zwei first showed up. So as the professor continued to ramble on about the importance of the dog, she turned to walk over to Coal and stick with him, safety in numbers and all that, but Coal was nowhere to be found.

It had been a while since he had pulled a disappearing act but it still made her feel uneasy whenever he did vanish. It reminded her that he was once trained by the military. Trained to kill since he was just a teenager. And now he was chasing after someone from those days. Someone who held some meaning to him that he neglected to share with the rest of them.

"Hey!" The girls turned to see Coal about a block away dragging the corpse of a recently killed Grimm behind him. The girls looked to where he was currently, back to where he had been only a few seconds beforehand and then back to Coal wondering just how he had moved so quickly. "Why you just standing around? We are in a red zone remember, get your heads in the game!"

"He's right girls." The professor agreed. "Where there is one Grimm there is usually others... And there's the pack."

Just as the professor noticed, the rest of team RWBY also spotted a pack of beowolves pouncing on Coal from behind him. The girls tried to call out to warn him but the Grimm were too close to him that they couldn't make a difference.

The Grimm were just about to dig their claws into Coals flesh when they were surrounded in glyphs and in the blink of an eye, every Grimm was stuck through the neck with a large icicle. The force from the attack threw the Grimm into the road, the lifeless corpses landing right next to Coal's heels without so much as a fight.

"Like I said, get your heads in the game." Coal sighed dropping his first kill of the day and turning to face his other kills. He collected a few of the swords embedded in the Grimm and sheathed them in the buckles around his belt and bag, holding onto one more in his right hand. When he was fully equipped, he was carrying seven swords. Only Blake noticed that the number lined up with the number inscribed on his mask that he had yet to show to the others in the group.

Though they weren't given much time to take notice of anything else as another horde of Grimm, one much large than the small pack from just before, approached at a rapid pace.

Rallying the students, the professor offered some words of encouragement and sent the huntress' in training into battle. Though the order to attack was also given to the solider, Coal had already dived head first into the thick of it before the professor had opened his mouth.

With his mind completely at ease, Coal felt that among the scent of Grimm and the harsh environment of the deserted city that he was finally home.

* * *

As the day pressed on, Coal racked up more and more Grimm kills to add to his record and had opted to stay far away from the rest of the group for a few reasons.

The first of which was obvious. He wanted to stay away from the dog Ruby had snuck along for the ride. Now that he was a comfortable distance from the corgi, Coal's senses had returned and he could once again smell just as well as any Grimm he could conjure.

The second was that he worked better alone. He had yet to actually fight with anyone on team RWBY other than Blake who he had fought with a couple of times. Sure, he had a good idea on his twin's skill set but Weiss had yet to understand his own style and would only slow him down. truthfully, the only person Coal would allow to fight alongside him without batting an eye would be his old friend Ruin.

Thirdly. Being secluded from the rest meant that he could also conduct a search for any clues as to whether or executioner ten or the White Fang were here.

To do this he had summoned small birds and mice and sent them to every corner of the abandoned city, circling back around and relaying any information that they found. Not that they found much other than other packs of Grimm.

Though that information did help Coal direct the party away from some of the bigger packs so that he could take them on himself. More than anyone else, he needed to blow off some steam and killing some Grimm was the perfect way to do so.

So, when the professor appeared out of nowhere as Coal dispatched another Grimm, the boy couldn't have cared less. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Expertly done Mr. Valiant." The professor commended looking amongst the many dissolving Grimm. "You are quite the natural."

"Hardly a complement, calling someone a natural killer." Coal scoffed turning away from the teacher and walking to the next sector. Oobleck followed close behind.

"I was about to say huntsman."

"Is there a difference?"

"Indeed, there is young man! Why, a huntsman's true duty is to uphold the peace."

"That's bull shit." Coal scoffed again drawing his revolver and firing down an alleyway to his left while continuing to walk and look straight ahead. When the professor reached the alleyway, he took note of the Grimm dead and dissolving having been shot twice in head. "Peace doesn't exist in this world. Only balance."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"It's simple professor. Light can't exist without dark, vice versa and yadda yadda yadda..." Coal said in a way that seemed like he had either told, or been told that story far too many times. "Peace implies that there can only be one side, one way that everyone follows without question. You really believe that's possible in this world?"

"Indeed, I do young scholar! Why, if peace was not possible then why would we people like you and I strive to uphold it?"

"I'm not here for peace." Coal stated stopping to turn to the professor and shot a single bullet, barely missing the professor and executed a Grimm sneakily closing in upon the older huntsman. "Only to maintain the balance."

"Is that the only reason why you are here?"

"End of the day, I'm here to do a job." Coal shrugged turning back to continue his route. His tone indicating that he didn't care much for his own words. Probably because they were words that had been drilled into him during his military training with the executioners. "Does it matter why I choose to be here? Either way, the world still turns, people live, they die..."

"Like your friend, Cobalt?" The professor asked causing Coal to stop dead and glare back. "I heard that he went missing while protecting a lot of people. I knew him once upon a time, good man, better soldier, even better historian."

"He didn't die if that's what you want to know." Coal said in a quiet tone. "People like him are cursed to a much more painful fate."

"Which is?"

"Isolation. Stranded in a place they can never escape. Having to share your soul with a vessel that isn't your own isn't exactly painless, so imagine being trapped in an endlessly burning pit of fire with no escape." Coal said. "And then pass on that same curse to the next lost soul so that they can burn up in the same flame." Coal stopped to take a deep breath before smiling to the professor. "He wants me to tell you that you're wasting your talent, teaching runts like us. Oh, and he also wants to see if you can keep up!"

In a flash of time dilation, Coal disappeared deeper into the city leaving the professor to smile to himself.

"You chose a fine student my old friend. It's a shame that your flame was passed to someone so young." The professor mumbled to himself.

* * *

By the time the night had settled in and everyone had helped make camp in one of the many abandoned buildings, the students were completely exhausted. After such a hectic day battling countless Grimm and searching through the city and guarding the professor who did nothing but question their purpose for being here while collecting dirt samples... Everyone was simply completely knackered.

Except Coal who seemed still ready to go a few extra rounds. During the first watch of the evening, while Ruby oversaw the safety of the group, Coal circled round the perimeter ensuring that there were no sneaky Grimm lurking nearby or anything else that could creep up on them while they rested.

It was after his third cycle that Blake forced him to take a break. Truthfully it hadn't taken anywhere near as much effort to get Coal to stop for a moments rest as she had imagined. Truthfully, when Blake had pushed the idea for a break Coal simply couldn't even muster the energy to argue.

He wasn't exhausted physically but mentally having kept a watchful eye on everything and everyone. He needed to know that they were all safe. He wouldn't stop until he knew for certain whether or not the woman who carried the tenth mask of the executioners was captured and contained or straight up dead and buried. At this point, Coal didn't care which.

"Will you stop glaring at everything for one second?" Blake sighed pulling hard on the boy's ear and breaking him from his frozen state. "No matter how hard you try you can't get the wall to burst into flames just by looking at it." Just to prove a point Coal continued to stare at the wall and forced a few small glyphs to manifest upon it which ignited in a controlled blaze. Blake was even less impressed and slapped him upside the head for his childish manner which only brought Coal to chuckle lightly at the kittens pouting expression of annoyance.

"You know when you're annoyed your ears fold back." Coal stated as he watched the spot where Blake's bow was twitching and causing the girl to flush red. "It's kinda cute." Blake did her best to hide her ears with her hands while also trying to hide the redness upon her face.

"Shut up, I can't control it..."

"You shouldn't feel the need to." Coal smiled softly.

"UGH!" Yang groaned from across the camp fire. "Will you two get a room! No one wants to hear this mushy stuff."

"I'm with Yang on this one Frosty." Weiss agreed. "So, will you all shut up so that I can sleep!"

"Sorry sis." Coal apologised lightly embarrassed. "Though you have to admit that I'm only acting like this because you and Winter subjected me to so many chick flicks as a kid that all the mushy stuff is now all second nature."

"You know I really can't imagine you as a kid." Yang said rolling over onto her stomach so she could look Coal in the eye. "I mean, sure I can picture what you might have looked like but we you and Weiss always so different?"

"I don't think I understand the question."

"Well you act all calm and cool, hide behind fake smiles half the time and let's not forget the whole, look at me wrong and I'll kill you, persona you showed off when you fought Cardin. Weiss however tries to act as if she knows everything, tends to be mean for all the wrong reasons and has a major attitude problem... Actually, when you say it like that, you both really aren't that different."

"Sorry Yang, but Weiss and I are basically the same." Coal shrugged.

"We do have our disagreements though," Wiess continued immediately after.

"And end up fighting and almost hating each other for a little while,"

"But I've learned to put up with his antics." Weiss finished with a cheeky smirk directed at her twin. "That and he really is hopeless without me. You should have seen him before your date Blake, he was a complete mess. He couldn't form a single sentence, kept tripping up over his own feet and the hair, oh god that hair... _Weiss, it won't stay down, help me out here, please this might be the nerve racking thing I've ever done and I've fought some of the deadliest Grimm out there!_ " Weiss finished her rather accurate impression of her twin in a laughing fit which only annoyed Coal more than embarrassed him. It still didn't stop the heat in his cheeks to jump up a few degrees.

With the tables turned Blake took full advantage of her boyfriend's embarrassment by giving him a quick peck on the cheek and softly say. "Aww, I find that rather cute."

Coal glared at his twin. "You're dead to me."

"What's the matter Frosty, can't take a joke?"

"No, I just can't take you seriously."

Both twins glared at each other before breaking into another fit of laughter before simultaneously crying out at the same time. "You blinked, I win... No, you blinked first! You did!"

"That's enough you out of you both!" Yang said throwing a pillow into each of the twin's faces to shut them up. "Shesh you're both just as childish as Ruby." Coal threw the pillow at his sister to keep her from commenting on that before he could.

"Speaking of which, I have to ask Yang, what is a kid like Ruby doing hunting monsters?" He asked with intrude. "Pardoning my own childishness and Ruby's obvious skills, I just don't see how she could have come to picking this life."

"She grew up hearing stories of famous huntsmen and huntresses and fell in love with them." Yang informed. "She always wanted to be like the heroes from those stories, able to stand up against anything without fear. I think that's why she looks up to you. You may be a bit of a dick at times but in a way, she wants to be just as fearless as you."

"He's hardly fearless!" Weiss laughed rolling over and clutching her stomach at the mental image her mind went to. "He's terrified of spiders for one thing and you do remember how he tried to run away from a certain ex fiancée. Plus, I'm pretty sure he is afraid of water."

"Hey just because I can't swim doesn't mean I'm afraid of it!"

"Shut it Frosty." Weiss stuck her tongue out at her twin.

"Does it really matter why she is here?" Blake asked being the voice of reason and the person who seemed to break up the two bickering twins the most. "Regardless of reasoning, aren't we all here to do a job at the end of the day?"

"Exactly!" Coal agreed. "And right now, our job is to rest while the little red runt's is to keep watch."

"That's my sister your insulting there." Yang deadpanned cracking her knuckles before clicking onto something. "Wait, didn't Ruin call you runt earlier?"

"Yeah I heard that too." Weiss chimed in wondering the meaning behind the name.

"Well apart from Angel I was the smallest on the squad… and there is always one runt in the family." Coal laughed cheerfully as his mind filled with some of the happier memeories of his military days. "For some reason I just can't shift the name, even when Angel joined us it was me who kept that stupid name."

"Not surprising really." Weiss commented with a sly grin. "Before your sudden growth spurt a couple of years ago, you and I were the same height. So long as I wasn't wearing heels of course."

"SHUT UP!" Coal yelled at his twin. "I was not that small!"

"Blake, care to weigh in on that comment?" Yang said flashing her eyebrows at the usually quiet Faunus who remained as such.

"No comment." Blake said shaking her head in minor disgust but still smiling at her partners rather entertaining behaviour.

"Can we please get some sleep?" Coal groaned trying very hard to hide his embarrassment from the girls by faceplanting his sleeping bag.

"Is someone tired from not getting much sleep the night before?" Yang continued to tease. Coal drew his revolver and while keeping his face buried deep in the sleeping bag pointed it at the blond.

"Don't make me." His muffled voice sent a shiver through Yang's spine.

Blake shook her head and tapped the back of Coal's head so that he lifted his head to look up at his girlfriend.

"Don't do that." Blake instructed softly. Coal groaned before returning the gun to his holster. "That's better." As the teens settled down to sleep, Weiss and Yang kept Coal awake slightly longer than he had hoped by making the sound of a whip cracking every few minutes. Being around the girls could annoy the soldier to no end, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Coal eventually fell asleep with a happy smile across his face. For once, he didn't care about what was to come, he didn't care about what had transpired, he only cared about making moments like these last.

Finally, he understood what Ruin meant when he questioned his version of freedom. With his lesson finally learned, Coal no longer wanted to be free, he no longer wanted revenge on Adam and did not care in the slightest if the number ten was after him. He only cared about the people around him and how to keep them safe.

* * *

 _Coal sat up on the crisp white sheets of the bed. His mind had brought him back to his room at the mental asylum. Despite the pain this place had brought him, Coal had found the cleanliness and the simplicity of the surroundings rather peaceful. Because of how clean the room was his heightened senses didn't bother him too much. Though he could smell the strong disinfectants that his mind had long since memorised since his first night in the hospital for the insane._

 _Coal turned to face the one-way mirror and say his own reflection staring back at him. Once again, his reflection appeared to be covered in blood that wasn't his own and possessed a pair of blazing blue eyes rather than his own black ones._

 _"It's been a while since you called me to this part of my mind Cobalt, what's up?"_

 ** _"We are getting off track. The plan..."_**

 _"The plan is being handled." Coal interrupted the soul that shared his body._

 ** _"It would be handled faster without those distractions."_** _Cobalt the reflection scoffed, spitting out a small amount of blood._ _ **"Those children are nothing other than a waste of time. Not to mention all of this teen talk is really getting on my nerves."**_

 _"My life, my rules and you must have been bonded to vessels younger than me before." Coal stated folding his arms and glaring at the reflection. "I am the one who inherited this damn curse from you so the least you can do is let me live my life the way I want to… At least for now. You've been around for nearly what, two or three hundred years? Cut me some slack, at least I'm doing what you asked unlike your last vessel. Now shut up before I show you hell." Coal waved the reflection off and lay back down on the bed hoping to let his mind rest for at least a few hours._

 ** _"Don't use my lines against me Runt. Remember who you're dealing with."_**

 _"Trust me, I remember well..." Coal mumbled. "You're not the only villain of this story."_

* * *

As the night pressed on Blake tossed and turned trying to fall asleep, but the many questions she wanted, no, needed to ask Coal were keeping her mind active enough so that sleep was basically impossible.

Finally having enough of her mental torment, Blake rolled over to face her sleeping boyfriend who was only lying arms distance away illuminated by the flickering flames of the campfire. She wondered how he could fall asleep so easily after some of the things he had seen and experienced. But even after running around the whole city fighting Grimm Coal had barely even broken a sweat while she and the others were starting to become desperate for a break. He wasn't even tired and yet there he was, fast asleep like nothing was wrong.

It irritated her. He had been in a foul mood most of the day and was still keeping secrets from her even after all they had been through. She thought they were past that point, dancing around each other, playing the other in some form of game with information as the prize. But apparently, Coal was still unwilling to share his life with her and she was tired of it.

Choosing now as the best time to settle her mind, Blake reached over to Coal and started running her hand through his hair like she would every time she tried to wake him. She heard a deep rumbling growl escape him before he jerked awake, bolting upright and scanning his surroundings quickly before settling on Blake and regaining full control over his body's actions.

"Blake?" He yawned as he turned to sit facing his girlfriend, confused about why she had awoken him this time. "What's up?"

"You've been in a bad mood all day, want to talk about it?" Blake took the nice approach first shuffling over to him and resting her head on his lap. She felt him tense up upon the contact at first but quickly regained his calm presence and started to scratch the sweet spot behind her ears.

"Just a memory." Coal said softly but Blake recognised a slight hint of guilt in his voice that he was desperately trying to hide. "I'm fine, really."

"Why don't I believe that?" Blake sighed.

"Because you know me." Coal also sighed knowing full well that he couldn't keep hiding things from the Faunus. The air between them was filled with an uncomfortable silence, something that was rare for the young couple, before Coal spoke again. "It's my fault Ruby got hurt."

"Care to explain how?" Blake pushed before Coal could back out. "I thing some girl hurt her."

"Yeah… But I'm the one who recruited and trained that person." Coal mumbled, his hand which scratched be sweet spot of Blakes ears fell limp. "She was only an executioner for less than a year and she still racked up one hundred and fifty-six kills."

"Grimm kills?" Blake asked for clarification but already knew what was coming.

"No, people." Again, more silence filled the air. Blake felt for Coal. He blamed himself for all those deaths, for Ruby's injury and probably a lot more that he still wasn't telling her.

"What happened between you two?" Blake pressed on hoping Coal wasn't retreating back into his shell. She had worked hard to get him to open up to her even a little and she didn't want to see all of that effort go to waste because of someone from Coal's past.

"She betrayed us." Coal continued finding himself unable to stop the words coming out. "Took a group of civilian's hostages and killed one of our own in the process. Ruin, Myth and I managed to track her down and take her out quickly and that should have been that but she's back… I should have known she would have been back. That freaking ghost."

"So, she survived and is after you for trying to kill her?"

"Oh no we killed her." Coal stated. "Myth took the kill shot and she doesn't miss. Ever. To be sure, I burned the corpse so much that what was left wasn't even recognisable as a person anymore, then Ruin destroyed the remains in one fully charged blast. We killed her original vessel, but she just took to another, probably one of the hostages she took if I had to guess."

"What do you mean took to another?" Blake questioned utterly baffled and shocked at the amount of effort used to ensure that one person was deceased.

"If you believe the stories, this world was once inhabited by gods with great power. Naturally, people wanted that power and tried to obtain the power the gods possessed. But the higher you climb to ascend to godhood the further you have to fall and everyone who attempted the climb fell." Coal spoke mystically. "That brought about the accursed. A group of cursed people who obtained power that mimicked the gods but was too uncontrollable to use. The power burned the accursed and left their souls cursed to wander the world in search of new vessels desperately trying to reach the throne of the gods. Jane Doe is one of those vessels. Specifically, Crimson the curse of gluttony."

"How do you know all of this?" Blake asked not believing the story her boyfriend told her.

"Because when I was ten and the glyph was put in my back, it was put there to contain Crimson." Coal stated. "My father wanted me to be powerful so he thought that by infusing me with one of the accursed then I would be the one to ascend to the throne but it only back fired. I more I used the cursed power the more it burned away at my body and soul, turning me into some kind of monster. So, my father sent me to the asylum where they attempted to extract the curse and implant it in another patient who had no name, no family and no personality of her own…"

"Jane Doe?" Blake said putting the pieces together.

"That's right. But even that didn't work as the power was spilit between us." Coal continued. "I eventually learned to co-exist with my half of Crimson and learned to harness its power with training from another executioner, Cobalt. The curse of wrath."

"Another one?"

"Yeah, he was the person that Jane killed when she betrayed us." Coal sighed. "And I was the one who inherited his curse." He said holding up his left hand so that Blake could see. In the palm of his hand, a small blue flame sparked into existence dancing around his fingertips. Blake at first didn't understand what Coal was showing her but then she realised that Coal hadn't used any glyphs or dust to start the fire, nor was he using any to keep it going. "Look at your scroll." Blake followed Coal's instructions and checked the device and saw the source of the fires energy. She watched as Coal's aura ticked down slowly, little by little the fire consuming his soul. "I should have told you what you were getting into… I'm sorry."

"Oh don't be such a baby." Blake huffed poring some of her canteen water over the small flame. The water evaporated before it even got close to the blue flame that still danced in Coal's palm. "Put that thing out will you!" Blake snapped pinching Coal's ear hard and dragging him down to her level after he had extinguished the flame. "So you have this weird ability, you lost a friend to someone you tried to train to control their weird ability which you feel guilty over. Is there anything else I should know?"

"I'm trying to buy out one of the smaller Schnee mines using money that I stole from my father after he disowned me." Coal stated.

"Is that why you have been staying up countless nights?" Blake growled irritably. Coal nodded finding the pain in his ear to be more horrible than ever before. "Why didn't you just tell me? Why keep all this a secret, sure the story seems a bit far fetched and I still don't believe half of it but still?"

"We were in a good place and I didn't want to risk pushing you away cause I'm… Well you know…"

"Yeah, some cursed vessel or whatever." Blake deadpanned releasing his ear and sitting up facing him. "I knew you were a soldier, a killer and to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if you had a criminal record or something…"

"Erm…"

"Shut it…" Blake growled so harshly that Coal sank in place. "I know who you are Coal. I just didn't know who you were and now that I do know… I really don't care."

"Huh?" Coal stammered surprised.

"All I wanted was for you to talk to me, so that I could understand a little bit about what you keep bottled up inside. You are such an idiot, you can't even see that you are surrounded by people who care about you. People who want to help you anyway that they can. Me more so than most. So, when are you going to accept that you are part of this team, part of this family… When are you going to realise that what we have means that we are a team, just the two of us and that your problems are my problems and vice versa?"

"I thought you just wanted to keep this thing casual?" Coal stammered again blushing slightly at the Faunus' forwardness.

"We slept together dumbass." Blake deadpanned again, though she couldn't stop the small entertaining smile creeping up at the sight of Coal's embarrassment. "I think we are well passed casual." She giggled when she saw steam burst out of Coal's ears and start to tug on the collar of his shirt. She couldn't resist pushing his buttons further. "It won't be long before my parents will want to meet you."

"Great…" Coal grumbled to himself unable to think of a counter argument. "So, you don't care about what I used to be?"

"What was the advice you gave me a while back?" Blake smirked. "It doesn't matter who you were, it matters who you are."

"You know I really hate it when you use my own words against me."

"Why else do you think I do it?" Blake asked rhetorically. "I know it bugs you just like how your constant referencing annoys me."

"People like my referencing!"

"No… They really don't."

"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"

"What?"

"One day… One day…"


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34 – Brothers in Arms.

* * *

Amidst the dark heavy mist of an abandoned city in the making you expect to find many monstrous nightmares roaming the barren incomplete roads beneath the towering structures of what would have been offices, businesses and homes.

A place this derelict, deserted and cast aside by mankind created a perfect atmosphere for creatures of the night. Many Grimm had made this place their home. Nested and repopulated causing an even heavier dark mist to settle upon the remains of mountain Glenn, enabling the creatures that occupy its half-finished walls to skulk through the city unnoticed by the rest of the world.

But hidden among this forgotten and abandoned graveyard of buildings, rested a single building untouched by the plague of darkness and Grimm. A small church still stood at the centre of town as one of the few buildings that had been completed before the expansion project had been abandoned many years ago.

Its windows were shattered, letting what little moonlight that shined upon this would be holy place. The heavy wooden doors pulled off their hinges allowing the mist of the city to roam free among the pew.

A huntsman team passing through the area some years ago had said that the place was filled with the ghosts of those left behind in the evacuation. Forever seeking salvation and piece.

Another warned of the mist as the hunted spirits of the slaves and workers that had died in the creation of the building. To damn those who dare tread on the only construct that still existed as part of themselves.

Yet even still, after all the warning and tales that had been told about this place. The church still accepted its first visitor within decades.

Wrapping his hands around one of the heavy wooden doors, Ruin lifted the panel and stood it back against the door frame sighing as he did so. It wasn't the first church he had seen in shambles but the sight still made what was left of his spirit sink.

Walking among the scattered pew filled with shattered glass and rubble, Ruin's bare feet slapped against the concrete loudly, echoing against the walls that would have, should have carried the chorus of a choir for those faithful to whatever god that it served.

He stopped before the he reached the back, looking up at the forgotten statue of a deity that he had no clue about. It still upset him to see a statue in such a condition. Moss grew has set into every crevice of the stone and it had started to crumble away in places more exposed to the elements and in reach of wandering Grimm.

Even still, he bent down to one knee and closed his eyes.

"Hey Mom… It's been a while." Ruin spoke softly trying to word exactly the way he had envisioned it. "I know I didn't exactly turn out how you planned but err… Well you probably know better than me what kind of state I'm in after all these years.

"Last time we spoke, I told you about the little girl I adopted right? Well, its been a while since then and I've got some good news. I'm getting married soon. To Myth. You always said that you'd only accept the one who could keep me in line as a good wife so I think you'd have liked her.

"I also plan to ask Coal to be my best man. I know he's young and rather impulsive but you probably can tell for yourself that the kid is like a brother to me so if you could, please watch over him as well as myself and Angle. Please… The runt needs someone looking out for him.

"Please Mom, forgive us for the sins we've committed, for the things we've forgotten and mostly, for the thing's we've ruined." Ruin begged. "I don't care if god, the four maidens or whoever is up there forgives me… Only that you somehow could forgive my past sins."

Ruin released a breath that had been sitting on his chest for far too long before looking up and smiling at the ghost of his adoptive mother. "And for the sins I'm probably gonna commit."

With a rekindled spirit, Ruin turned to leave the church. It wasn't often he found the time to speak to the deceased nun that was the closest thing to a mother he would ever have. But seeing the change Coal had undergone over the last year, Ruin felt that he needed the boost himself.

"Oh, and one more thing." Ruin remembered as he turned once more and continued to walk backwards amongst the pew towards the battered doors. "What the hell do I get a soon to be nine-year-old for her birthday? I'm really struggling for ideas here!"

"Have you tried a pony?" Ruin leapt 3 feet in the air at the echoing voice bouncing off the stone walls causing the source of the voice to laugh. "You didn't realise I was here?" Coal asked chuckling at his old partners antics.

"I was kind of in the middle of something!" Ruin retorted looking mildly annoyed. "I wasn't really paying attention to my sensors! Besides aren't you meant to be with your team?"

Coal shrugged, choosing to remain as close to the door and the air outside the church as much as possible. "Everyone was asleep and I was bored, it wasn't too difficult to pick up your scent and find you. Plus Yang makes for a terrible guard. The hardest part was sneaking out of Blake's grasp." Which was true, Blake had cuddled up to Coal so tightly that he spent a good hour slowly crawling out of her arms to avoid waking her up. He had no idea how much the cat Faunus liked to cuddle in her sleep. When she was awake she never really needed attention… Much. "Can we get out of here now please?" He begged looking rather uneasy. "Being the vessel for one and a half accursed sins makes me feel sick standing in this place."

Before Ruin could comment on Coal's affiliation with the dark entities knows as the accursed sins, a loud roar bellowed between the remains of the city grabbing both of their attentions.

The two looks at each other, a cocky smile growing on each of their faces.

"Once more unto the breach?" Coal quoted.

"Dear friend, once more." Ruin finished.

They dashed into the city, searching for the Grimm that made such a horrific sound.

Coal conjuring a glyph to bring forth the icicles he would use as a sword in his right hand, drawing the duel chambered revolver in his left. He used his glyphs to accelerate his movements as he dashed through the destroyed city.

Ruin however carried no weapons, nor did he need them. However, his pace matched Coal's with ease, his legs propelled him forward faster and faster with each step, cracking the road beneath his bare foot with each stride. If you listened closely, a faint electrical humming could be heard emitting from the man's chest enabling his body to surpass normal human standards and reach a level that could rival the power of the accursed sins.

Both Ruin and Coal knew of the power that their brother in arms possessed and had gone toe to toe many times under the pretence of training. Because of their combined power clashing against one another and their superior understanding of each other's skills and combat styles, they had earned the title of the strongest due in the military.

As well as being the most destructive.

* * *

A/N

Hello all and welcome back to this fic after such a long time of being away.

First and foremost, I am sooooooooo sorry that it took this long for a new chapter and for it to be so short but please just hear me out here.

I hate to be that guy, but I just couldn't bring myself to write anything after watching Volume 5. I don't know what it was but Volume 5 just completely killed my motivation to write anything and I knew that if forced a chapter out of me then it would have been terrible and I would have hated myself for doing so.

Regardless. I'm getting back into writing fan fic again and I'm going to take it at a slower pace while I get back into RWBY and revive my passion for a franchise that I still love regardless of Vol. 5.

I know Vol. 5 divided its fans a little and I'm sorry if you are one of those people who loved it but it just wasn't for me. I will be honest about that.

Thank you for your patience guys and thank you sooooooooo much for the 200 of you who favourited this fic! I think at the time I took a break (albeit a long one…) this fic had less that 150 favourites… HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS ARE INSANE!

Thank you for the love and will see you all in the next chapter which will hopefully be soon!


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